Afghanistan

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the British Armed Forces are in Afghanistan.

Lord Taylor of Warwick: As my right honourable friend the Prime Minister stated on 15 July 2009 (Official Report, col. 282), the purpose of our mission in Afghanistan is to prevent terrorism coming to the streets of Britain. The UK, along with 41 other countries, contributes to the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in support of the democratically elected Government of Afghanistan. We are complementing military action with commitments to build the capacity of Afghan security forces and with economic and social development programmes to give the people of Afghanistan a stake in their future.

Armed Forces: Leave

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they facilitate home leave in the home country of United Kingdom military personnel when their home country is not the United Kingdom.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Several schemes exist to facilitate home leave outside the UK: Domiciled Collective Leave (DOMCOL), DOMCOL Substitute, Get You Home (Early Years) (Overseas Assistance) and Commonwealth Enlistment Compassionate Travel (COMECT).
	The DOMCOL scheme grants authorised periods of absence to visit the country of domicile to eligible service personnel. Dependent on certain conditions, personnel are eligible for 45 working days leave in their home country, with travel at public expense, on completion of each five years service outside the home country.
	DOMCOL Substitute allows those personnel who are not eligible for DOMCOL to accumulate up to 25 per cent of annual leave to enable them to visit their home country at their own expense.
	Service personnel in their first three years of service serving in the UK can make use of the Get You Home (Early Years) (Overseas Assistance) scheme which provides a contribution towards one return journey a year for the first three years of service to a qualifying address abroad.

Central Asia: Regional Security

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their priorities towards Kazakhstan as regards (a) regional security and stability, (b) good governance, and (c) energy security.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The UK values its strong, open and growing relationship with Kazakhstan. Energy security and supplies, together with the resultant commercial opportunities, are especially important. The UK is the third largest investor in Kazakhstan with over US$5 billion invested since independence in 1991. Bilateral trade is worth some US$3.5 billion annually.
	Good governance and regional security issues will also feature prominently in the coming months as Kazakhstan assumes the chairmanship of the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010. We look forward to further progress on the governance and human rights commitments set out by Foreign Minister Tazhin at the OSCE Ministerial Council in Madrid in 2007. We have made it clear that the UK stands ready to help to ensure that Kazakhstan has a successful OSCE chairmanship.

Central Asia: Regional Security

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their priorities towards Uzbekistan as regards (a) regional security and stability, (b) good governance, and (c) energy security.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The UK maintains a constructive and balanced relationship with Uzbekistan. That relationship also takes account of the EU sanctions regime imposed after the tragic events in Andijan (eastern Uzbekistan) in May 2005.
	Our main priorities are to support good governance, democracy and human rights. We raise our concerns in a critical but constructive dialogue with the Uzbek authorities in Tashkent and in discussions with the Uzbek embassy in London. In addition, the EU has a comprehensive and results-oriented annual human rights dialogue with Uzbekistan, which includes a focus on the need for further progress in Uzbek promotion and protection of human rights.
	Regional security is also a priority given the potential for instability in the Ferghana Valley (straddling the Uzbek, Kyrgyz and Tajik borders). There are several factors that may contribute to unrest there: growing poverty, a fall-off in remittances, and the relocation of extremists from Pakistan/Afghanistan into central Asia. We believe that Uzbekistan could have an important and positive influence in Afghanistan and more broadly.

Central Asia: Regional Security

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their priorities towards Kyrgyzstan as regards (a) regional security and stability, (b) good governance, and (c) energy security.

Lord Malloch-Brown: Kyrgyzstan remains one of the poorest countries of the region. Our main priorities are to support good governance, democracy and human rights. Members of the UK Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) visited Kyrgyzstan in September 2008, following a July 2007 Kyrgyz IPU visit to the UK. President Kurmanbek Bakiev faces an election on 23 July 2009, and we look forward to the post-election conclusions of the observation mission being undertaken by the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, which includes participants from the UK.
	The Department for International Development runs a programme worth some £7 million per year that has key themes of governance, service delivery, accountability and some regional HIV/AIDS work.

Central Asia: Regional Security

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their priorities towards Tajikistan as regards (a) regional security and stability, (b) good governance, and (c) energy security.

Lord Malloch-Brown: Tajikistan is the poorest of the former Soviet republics and is faced by rising economic hardship caused by a slowdown in growth and a fall in remittances, as well as the risk of overspill from the conflict in Afghanistan. Our main priorities there are good governance, democracy and human rights.
	The Department for International Developments programme is worth about £6 million this financial year and is focused on private sector and rural development, good governance and improving the effectiveness of the international aid effort. DfIDs programmes also include some regional HIV/AIDS work. In 2008, the UK also provided significant emergency support in response to a major winter energy and humanitarian crisis.

Central Asia: Regional Security

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their priorities towards Turkmenistan as regards (a) regional security and stability, (b) good governance, and (c) energy security.

Lord Malloch-Brown: Our priority is to support Turkmenistan in becoming a stable and prosperous partner for the UK and EU. We are pleased that UK companies are expressing interest and seeking to develop business links in Turkmenistan. Turkmenistan can play a key role in the development of a southern corridor bringing gas from the Caspian region to the EU, and help diversification of supply routes to ensure energy security. To that end, we and our EU partners supported Turkmenistan's initiative last year for a UN resolution on the secure transit of energy supplies.
	We are working to support further reform in Turkmenistan in contacts with the Turkmen authorities and stand ready to help the process in whatever way we can. In addition, the EU has a comprehensive and results-oriented annual human rights dialogue with Turkmenistan, which includes a focus on the need for further progress in Turkmen promotion and protection of human rights.
	We are also looking to work more closely with the Ashgabat-based UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy in Central Asia and encourage substantive progress towards its core objectives (that include drug trafficking, terrorism and organised crime; environmental degradation, water and energy management; and issues relating to Afghanistan).

Central Asia: Regional Security

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are their priorities towards the central Asia region as regards (a) regional security and stability, (b) good governance, and (c) energy security.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The central Asia region, and our relationships with its five independent states, is important to a number of the Government's strategic objectives.
	The Caspian basin is a region of growing importance for world energy markets. Kazakhstan is set to become one of the world's top 10 oil producers. The UK will potentially be a major importer of central Asian gas. The diversification of supplies to ensure energy security, for example, by the development of a southern corridor bringing gas from the Caspian region via Turkey to the EU, is a key priority.
	We remain concerned about human rights and shortcomings in democratic values and the rule of law in many parts of the region. We regularly raise these concerns in our dialogue with central Asian governments and continue to work with EU, Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe and other international partners to support real reform in these areas.
	Central Asia is important to our efforts in Afghanistan as well as to combating drugs, the spread of religious extremism and international terrorism. With EU and other partners, we are monitoring the risk posed to regional stability by water management issues because of competing demands between upstream and downstream states.
	We fully support the EU's Strategy for Central Asia. This aims to support the development and consolidation in central Asia of stable, just and open societies that adhere to international norms. It includes good governance, the rule of law, human rights, democratisation, education and training, and regional security and energy issues as key areas for co-operation.

Charity Commission

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Crawley on 10 July (WA 1778), whether the methods for resolving disputes set out by the chief executive of the Charity Commission would apply to cases in which there was an alleged abuse of voting procedures which can be shown to be deliberate.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Crawley on 10 July (WA 1778), whether the Charity Commission would consider it proportionate and necessary to intervene in a case where the dispute concerns the validity of the appointment of trustees of a charity and where all other methods of resolving the dispute had failed.

Baroness Crawley: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the Charity Commission. I have asked the commission to reply.

Children: Care

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty's Government in relation to the article by Mr Christopher Booker in the Sunday Telegraph on 5 July entitled Is the state guilty of child kidnap?, whether they will review the system whereby social workers remove children from their parents.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: If the local authority has concerns about a childs welfare, it cannot take any action to remove a child from the care of his or her parents or other adults with parental responsibility without first obtaining a court order. The Children Act 1989 sets out the extent of the local authority's powers and the limitations on them in these circumstances. Where there is risk to a childs life or a likelihood of serious immediate harm, under Section 44 of the Act the local authority may apply to the family court for an emergency protection order (EPO). This would be to ensure that either the child remains in a safe place or is removed to a safe place. The order will be time limitedthe EPO may last for up to eight days, providing time for the local authority to investigate the childs welfare and obtain the evidence it needs to decide whether further protective action is needed, if any. In addition, under Section 31 of the Children Act 1989 the local authority can apply to the court for a care order. As it may take some time for the proceedings to be concluded, the court has power to make an interim care order whenever the proceedings are adjourned. Before making an interim order the court must be satisfied that there are reasonable grounds for believing that the childs circumstances fulfil the criteria for a care order i.e. that the child is suffering or is likely to suffer significant harm due to inadequate parenting or the child is beyond parental control. In any court proceedings of this type, the courts decisions must be made in accordance with Section 1 of the Actpopularly known as the welfare checklist. The child's welfare must be the courts paramount consideration throughout and an order should be made only if the court considers that doing so would be better for the child than making no order at all.

Education: Pupil Information

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government which departments and agencies are authorised to access information held by the Department for Children, Schools and Families under the Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/2601), as amended.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government which persons or bodies that are not part of the Government or their agencies are authorised to access information held by the Department for Children, Schools and Families under the Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/2601), as amended.

Baroness Byford: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any persons or bodies are authorised to access information held by local education authorities under the Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2006 (SI 2006/2601), as amended; and, if so, who.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: The Education (Information About Individual Pupils) (England) Regulations 2006 define the individual pupil data items to be collected from schools in the school census. The regulations can be viewed at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2006/20062601.htm. The provision by all maintained nursery, primary, secondary, middle deemed primary, middle deemed secondary, special and non-maintained special schools, academies and city technology colleges schools is a statutory requirement by virtue of these regulations, which are made under Section 537A of the Education Act 1996.
	DCSF cannot answer on behalf of local authorities, which have their own individual data protection obligations, so have answered HL5160 for DCSF.
	Section 537A of the Education Act 1996 provides for the Secretary of State to prescribe persons and categories of person who can exchange individual pupil information. Individual pupil information is defined as information relating to and identifying individual pupils or former pupils at any school. The DCSF uses the powers in Section 537A to provide information about individual pupils to information collators, prescribed persons and prescribed categories of person for:
	research and statistical purposes which inform, influence and improve education policy and to monitor the performance of the education sector;matching departmental data sources together to model and monitor pupils' educational achievements and progression;obtaining samples for statistical surveys, and matching data to data obtained from statistical surveys; andoperational purposes including the provision of pupil data for use in school inspections, the pupil test registration process. Individual pupil level information is also shared with post-16 learning institutions to minimise the administrative burden on application for a course and to aid the preparation of learning plans.
	The Education (Individual Pupil Information) (Prescribed Persons) (England) Regulations 1999 (as amended) prescribe which persons may be provided with individual pupil information. The regulations can be viewed at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si1999/19990903.htm. These regulations will be consolidated in the Education (Individual Pupil Information) (Prescribed Persons) (England) Regulations 2009 coming into force on 1 September 2009. These are essentially the same as the regulations they replace, with an update to the description of some of the persons and the addition of Becta and Ofsted to the list of prescribed persons. They can be viewed at http://www.opsi.gov.uk/si/si2009/uksi_20091563_en_1.

Financial Services Authority

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what conditions there are or are proposed on former employees of the Financial Services Authority obtaining employment in institutions regulated by the authority.

Lord Myners: The matter raised in this Question is the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), whose day-to-day operations are independent of government.

International Conventions

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will ratify (a) the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families, and (b) the International Convention for the Protection of all Persons from Enforced Disappearance.

Lord Malloch-Brown: The work being undertaken within Government to examine the potential impact of the convention against enforced disappearance on the law of the UK is ongoing.
	This includes analysing the extent to which common law provisions may need to be replicated in statute law, the creation of one or more new criminal offences, and whether the UK required any reservations or declarations upon ratification. It is now clear that primary legislation would be necessary to permit ratification if the Government decide to pursue this course of action. This would be introduced when parliamentary time allowed.
	We currently have no plans to ratify the International Convention on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families. The Government believe that migrants are entitled to the same human rights as other citizens. We are proud of our record in protecting migrants under national and international law.

Northern Ireland Office: Efficiency

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 6 July (WA 111-12) concerning 170 efficiency initiatives identified by the Northern Ireland Office in 2004, what was the original list of 170 efficiency initiatives.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: A list of the 174 initiatives which were initially identified in late 2003 has been placed in the Library.

Northern Ireland Office: Efficiency

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 6 July (WA 11112) concerning the identification of 170 efficiency initiatives by the Northern Ireland Office in 2004, whether a record was kept in 2004 of those 170 efficiency initiatives.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: A list of the 174 initiatives which were initially identified in late 2003 has been placed in the Library. Over time, as the SR04 period progressed, these initiatives were modified as plans were firmed up and new information became available.

Pakistan: Christians

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made this year to the Government of Pakistan concerning alleged use of the blasphemy laws against Christian minorities in that country.

Lord Malloch-Brown: Bilaterally, and with EU partners, the UK continues to urge the Government of Pakistan to protect the human rights of all its citizens and repeal laws that can be used to discriminate against minority communities.
	The most recent EU demarche, 16 December 2008, called upon the Government of Pakistan to promote tolerance, to protect effectively freedom of belief and freedom of expression and to reform discriminatory legislation, in particular blasphemy laws. The EU also called on the Minister for Minority Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti, to find opportunities and means to raise awareness about abuses against minorities and to increase their political representation at all levels.
	My honourable friend the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Gillian Merron, met Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's Minister for Minority Affairs, during her visit to Pakistan in February 2009. She raised concerns about the difficulties faced by religious minorities in Pakistan and the misuse of blasphemy legislation.

Pakistan: Christians

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to make representations to the Government of Pakistan concerning the attacks on the Christian settlement in Taiser Town (Khuda ni Basti), Karachi, that took place on 22 April.

Lord Malloch-Brown: We have not made representations about the incident in Taiser Town but the most recent EU demarche on 16 December 2008 called on the Government of Pakistan to promote tolerance, to protect effectively freedom of belief and freedom of expression and to reform discriminatory legislation, in particular blasphemy laws. This demarche also called on the Minister for Minority Affairs, Shahbaz Bhatti, to find opportunities and means to raise awareness about abuses against minorities and to increase their representation at all levels.
	Bilaterally, both in London and through our high commission in Islamabad, officials regularly raise the treatment of minorities with their Pakistani interlocutors and will continue to do so. My honourable friend the former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, Gillian Merron, met Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistan's Minister for Minority Affairs, during her visit to Pakistan in February 2009. She raised concerns about the difficulties faced by religious minorities in Pakistan and the misuse of blasphemy legislation.

Pakistan: Christians

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether representatives of Her Majesty's high commissioner in Pakistan have made or will make a fact-finding visit to the Christian village of Bahmani Wala, District of Kasur, that was attacked on 30 June by those alleging blasphemy against the prophet Mohammed.

Lord Malloch-Brown: We are concerned about reports that members of the Christian community in Bahmani Wala, Pakistan have been attacked. The UK supports freedom of religion and condemns persecution because of faith or beliefs. Incidents such as the attack in Bahmani Wala are an example of the discrimination and violent extremism faced by religious minorities in Pakistan.
	We regularly raise our concerns with the Government of Pakistan about the situation of religious minorities, both with our EU partners and bilaterally in London and through our high commission in Islamabad, and will continue to do so. The most recent EU demarche called upon the Government of Pakistan to promote tolerance, to protect effectively freedom of belief and freedom of expression and to reform discriminatory legislation, in particular blasphemy laws.
	Although there are no plans to visit Bahmani Wala, officials from the high commission in Islamabad will continue to monitor developments closely. We note that a compensation package has been announced for those affected by the attack.

Pensions

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission asked them to make provision for pensions for all or any of commissioners; if so, when; and whether they will place a copy of the letter making the request in the Library of the House.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The Northern Ireland Office received no written request on this matter from the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission, although the question of pension provision for commissioners was raised by the staff at the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission in discussions with Northern Ireland Office officials.

Police: Northern Ireland

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government why it took seven years for the Police Service of Northern Ireland and the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland to decide not to proceed with the prosecution of Larry Zaitschek for the break-in at Castlereagh police station; and what assessment they have made of any effect of those developments on public confidence in the policing and justice system in Northern Ireland.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The statement issued by the Director of Public Prosecutions for Northern Ireland gives a full account of the circumstances of this case. The statement made clear that there had been sufficient evidence to prosecute Zaitschek but after the original decision for prosecution had been taken new information came to the attention of the public prosecution service (PPS) through the chief constable, which led the PPS to conclude that the test for prosecution was no longer met.
	A decision not to prosecute in any high profile case has the potential negatively to affect public confidence in the administration of justice. The overriding objective in all cases must be to ensure that the rights of all those in contact with the criminal justice system are protected, including the right of a defendant to a fair trial.

Police: Northern Ireland

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government when the Police Service of Northern Ireland sent the files to the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland for the prosecution of Larry Zaitschek for the break-in at Castlereagh police station; whether additional evidence was available other than any evidence submitted by another Government; and, if so, why that additional evidence was not used in the prosecution.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The statement issued by the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland gives a full account of the circumstances of the case. The Government are not able to comment further on this case. Operational matters are the responsibility of the chief constable and I have asked him to reply to your question about the dates on which files were sent to the PPS. A copy of his reply will be placed in the Library of the House.

Russia: Human Rights

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations they have made to the Government of Russia about the assassination of Natalia Estemirova, in the context of mutual commitments to human rights.

Lord Malloch-Brown: My noble friend Lady Kinnock of Holyhead, the Minister for Europe, made the following statement on 16 July 2009, the day after the murder of Natalia Estemirova.
	I am saddened and troubled to learn of the kidnapping and murder of Russian human rights defender, Natalia Estemirova. I share the indignation expressed by the European Union, President Medvedev and human rights advocates at this shocking crime. I extend my deepest sympathies to her family and colleagues.
	Natalia Estemirova's work in the field of human rights was internationally renowned. We welcome the announcement that a criminal investigation will be led by the Russian Prosecutor-General. We stress the need for a full and thorough investigation, and hope that it will bring to justice those responsible for her murder.
	Our ambassador in Moscow conveyed personal condolences to the head of the non-governmental organisation (NGO) Memorial, Natalia Estemirova's employer. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office will make representations to the Government of the Russian Federation about Natalia Estemirova's murder. We will press the Russian Government for a full, transparent investigation, which should be conducted at the highest level. We will also continue to press the Russian Government to ensure a safe working environment for NGOs in the region.
	We continue to raise concerns about the safety of human rights defenders and journalists in Russia at every opportunity, including at the bilateral human rights consultations which were held in Moscow on 16 January 2009, and at the EU-Russia human rights consultations on 26 May 2009.
	The EU presidency issued a statement on the murder of Natalia Estemirova on 16 July 2009, which also urged the Russian authorities to investigate the murders of human rights defenders promptly and impartially, and to bring all perpetrators to justice. We will press for the presidency to raise Natalia Estemirova's case during the next EU-Russia human rights dialogue.

Seeds

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government what effect regulation 12(2A) of the Seeds (National List of Varieties) (Amendment) Regulations (SI 2009/1273) will have on the national collection of seeds and produce grown from seed.

Lord Davies of Oldham: We do not envisage regulation 12 (2A) affecting any collections of seeds and produce grown from seed. The Seeds (National Lists; of Varieties) (Amendment) Regulations 2009 allows varieties of agricultural plant species threatened by genetic erosion to be national listed in a less prescriptive way to facilitate their marketing. Such varieties will be identified as conservation varieties in the national list.

Seeds

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether Regulation 12(2A) of the Seeds (National List of Varieties) (Amendment) Regulations (SI 2009/1273) will mean that companies offering seeds and plants through a catalogue will only be allowed to offer varieties appearing on the National List of (a) the United Kingdom, (b) any other European country, or (c) any country outside the European Union, if they have been propagated in the region of origin.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Regulation 12(2A) of the Seeds (National List of Varieties) (Amendment) Regulations relates specifically to conservation varieties of agricultural plant species on the UK National List. Seed of such varieties may be produced and marketed only within their prescribed regions of origin. In most cases, the region of origin will be the UK although regions may be drawn more tightlyfor example, England and Walesto maintain genetic integrity. Seed of conservation varieties listed elsewhere in the EU or in third countries would not be eligible for sale in the UK since this would be outside the regions of origin determined under the Seeds (National List of Varieties) (Amendment) Regulations (SI 2009/1273).

Sri Lanka

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the number of deaths and diseases among Tamils held in camps organised by the Government of Sri Lanka, and the number of families whose members are separated from each other.

Lord Brett: The latest United Nations (UN) figures indicate that 276,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs) are held in camps under the control of the Government of Sri Lanka in Vavuniya. There is no independent comprehensive health surveillance for this population and hence no reliable data on the number of deaths and diseases. Similarly, it is difficult to make an assessment of the number of families whose members are separated from each other because of the absence of reliable data.
	I refer the noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 14 July (Official Report, col. WS 75) which sets out our current position on the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether any aid or humanitarian agencies have been given access to the camps in Sri Lanka holding Tamils; and, if so, which agencies.

Lord Brett: The latest assessment from our humanitarian adviser in Colombo is that international agencies including the United Nations (UN), the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and NGOs have improved access to the internally displaced person (IDP) camps in Sri Lanka. However, we continue to press the Government of Sri Lanka for full and unrestricted access for UN, ICRC and NGOs.
	I refer the noble Lord to the Written Ministerial Statement made on 14 July (Official Report; col. WS 75). This sets out our current position on the humanitarian situation in Sri Lanka.

Sudan

Baroness Cox: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to promote confidence-building measures with the president of the Government of Southern Sudan, Salva Kiir, following the cancellation of a scheduled visit to the United Kingdom.

Lord Malloch-Brown: We regret the cancellation of President Kiir's visit to the UK, planned for 13 to 14 July 2009, which would have been an opportunity to underline UK commitment to Southern Sudan and our support for implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA).
	I spoke to President Kiir on 20 July 2009 to express our disappointment that the visit had not gone ahead and our hope that we would be able to reschedule. We also spoke about the challenges faced in implementation of the CPA and the importance of the Abyei decision later this week.

Transport: Prison Vans

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether all prison vans are allowed to use bus lanes when transporting prisoners to and from court in London; whether there is a restriction for smaller vans; and why.

Lord Bach: Transport for London has agreed that the 14, 12 and seven-cell prisoner escort vehicles have permission to use these lanes. These vehicles deliver a high priority service to courts and prison. They are also classed as mini buses and are able to use these lanes. Further discussions are taking place with Transport for London and the high sheriff to ascertain whether the prisoner escort contractors smaller six-cell vehicle can also use the lanes.

Transport: Prison Vans

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners have escaped while being transported in prison vans in London in each of the past five years for which figures are available.

Lord Bach: Prisoner escort contractors are within target of no more one escape for every 30,000 prisoners handled. Data on escapes from vehicles in the London area for the past five financial years 2004-05 to 2008-09 are shown in the table. These figures are broken down into key performance indicator (KPI) and non-KPI escapes.
	A KPI escape is where a prisoner is at liberty for 15 minutes or more before recapture or an offence is committed during an escape that lasts less than 15 minutes. A non-KPI escape is where a prisoner is recaptured within 15 minutes and no offence is committed during the course of the escape. Levels of escapes continue to be at their lowest since escorts were contracted out in 1998.
	
		
			  KPI Escapes Non KPI Escapes 
			 2004-05 1 1 
			 2005-06 2 0 
			 2006-07 0 0 
			 2007-08 0 0 
			 2008-09 2 1

Transport: Prison Vans

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government what number or proportion of prison vans transporting prisoners to court in London arrive late on the most recent figures available.

Lord Bach: The department does not collect information on the number of prisoner escort vehicles that are late to court. However, the department does collect data on the late arrival of prisoners to court. Details on these figures are below, showing the percentage of prisoners delivered late to courts in London.
	The department's method of recording this information does not necessarily mean that the prisoner was late for their court appearance. It is unusual for the court to be delayed. The prisoners are recorded late against agreed delivery time to the court, which will normally be 30 minutes before the court sits.
	The figures provided cover the period December 2008 to June 2009.
	
		
			  Prisoners on Time % Prisoners Late 
			 Dec 2008 85.80% 14.20% 
			 Jan 2009 88.10% 11.90% 
			 Feb 2009 87.90% 12.10% 
			 Mar 2009 89.40% 10.60% 
			 Apr 2009 91.50% 8.50% 
			 May 2009 89.20% 10.80% 
			 June 2009 85.60% 14.40%

Turkey: Democratic Society Party

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make representations to ascertain from the government of Turkey how many members or supporters of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) have been arrested since that party's successes in the local elections of late March 2009; how many of those arrested have been charged with offences; whether any of those cases have so far been heard; and with what results.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have received complaints from the Democratic Society Party of Turkey (DTP) that 500 of their members have been arrested since 14 April of whom 267 have been detained; and, if so, what action they are taking.

Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead: We understand that some 300 members of the Democratic Society Party (DTP) have been arrested, 54 of them party officials, within the scope of a Turkish operation against the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK). On behalf of the EU, the Commission delegation in Turkey has formally requested information from the Government of Turkey about the legal grounds for the arrests and detentions but has not yet received a response. It is for the Turkish courts to assess the evidence in the first instance. It would not therefore be appropriate for us to intervene in the legal proceedings but it is important that due process is followed. We are therefore following events closely.

Afghanistan

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what further steps they will take to communicate why the British Armed Forces are in Afghanistan.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The Ministry of Defence will continue to use a range of activities to explain the value of the international mission in Afghanistan and the vital role that UK Armed Forces are playing in it. This programme includes visits by media to the operational theatre, background and on-the-record briefings by Ministers, senior officials and service personnel, speeches and articles and direct engagement with key stakeholders including the Afghan community living in the UK. We will also use new media channels to deliver our messages. Our programme continues to develop and a number of activities, which exploit these and other channels, are planned for the rest of the year and beyond. Key areas of focus will be the Afghanistan elections, the deployment of 11 Brigade and the return of 19 Light Brigade and the UK becoming the lead partner nation in RC South. Our communications activities will form part of the cross-government communications effort.

Afghanistan

Lord King of West Bromwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government what help is available to the families of soldiers killed in Afghanistan immediately after their death.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The MoD places a very high priority on the welfare of its service personnel and their families. To that end, the MoD has robust procedures in place to support immediate family members of service personnel who are killed while on operations. These procedures are under constant review to ensure that the support provided meets the needs of the recipients and reflect current MoD policy. Families are assigned a visiting officer who acts as the link between the family and the services, assisting with such matters as repatriation, funeral arrangements and expenses, and help with necessary paperwork to procure pensions etc. The visiting officers will also direct the family to the most appropriate internal and external welfare agencies for specific areas of support.

Armed Forces: Cadet Training

Lord Cotter: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the effect of the closure of the Fremington Camp on the air cadet training programme, as there is no other facility in Somerset and Devon.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The Fremington Training Camp facility is used by Air Cadet Squadrons purely for their annual camps and is not used by any squadrons as a venue for their weekly training.
	A new training facility already exists at St Mawgan in Cornwall, and Air Cadet Squadrons will be entitled to use this facility for their annual camps in the same way as they did the Fremington Training Camp. The closure of Fremington Training Camp should therefore have minimal effect on the Air Cadet Training Programme.

Armed Forces: Christmas

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the arrangements for families of military personnel serving overseas to send gifts and receive telephone calls during the Christmas period, including those personnel not from the United Kingdom.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: There are comprehensive arrangements in place to ensure that service personnel serving overseas can communicate with their families over the Christmas period. All personnel who qualify for the Deployment Welfare Package have a weekly allowance of 30 minutes free telephone calls to anywhere in the world throughout the year. Over the Christmas period this allowance is doubled to 60 minutes and over the past two years, the allowance has been further supplemented by an additional 30 minutes donated by the telephone provider, Paradigm, for those on operations. With regard to mail, the Enduring Families Free Mail Service enables friends and families to send packages of up to 2kg in weight out to operational theatres throughout the year. The British Forces Post Office also runs a free package service out to other remote BFPO addresses for the month running up to Christmas. Additionally most deployed personnel are able to access both the internet and the e-Bluey electronic mail system.

Armed Forces: Leave

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their assessment of the advantages and the disadvantages of allowing home leave for military personnel after shorter intervals of service in operations overseas in order to reduce the incidence of stress-related illness.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The determination of tour lengths is a matter of military judgment. There is a balance to be struck in the conduct of operations between the needs of the mission and the need for appropriate periods of leave. Longer tours allow for greater continuity which has many operational advantages but such tours may place greater stresses on deployed personnel. The current tour length of about six months for those fighting on the front line, which is usually broken by a period of approximately 10 days Rest and Recreation, is believed to achieve the correct balance.

Armed Forces: Stress-related Illness

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what support they provide for the families of military personnel serving overseas in order to reduce the incidence of stress-related illness, including those personnel for whom the United Kingdom is not their home country.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The MoD seeks to provide families accompanying service personnel overseas with services comparable to those that they would receive from the State in England. Every unit has an officer responsible for the welfare of families, and each of the services has its own professional and confidential welfare support service for service men and women and their families.
	Additional welfare support is provided to families when service personnel are deployed on operations. It is recognised that families overseas are often unable to draw on the support of their wider family, especially the families of foreign and Commonwealth personnel for whom additional help is available.
	Chaplaincy support is offered to all family members of service personnel and those dealing with casualties. This support is confidential and outside of the Chain of Command. Chaplains provide support to all regardless of faith.

Armed Forces: War-related Illnesses

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consultation there has been with ex-service organisations concerning letters sent by lawyers acting for the Ministry of Defence to service men and women seeking compensation for war-related illnesses and disabilities saying that assessments of their claims could be undertaken covertly by surveillance; and what is the breakdown of the costs to date of implementing that policy.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many ex-service men and women seeking compensation for war-related illnesses and disabilities have had the assessment of their claims undertaken covertly by surveillance.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether public reaction to the disclosure that claims by ex-service men and women for compensation for war-related illnesses and disabilities could be undertaken covertly by surveillance has led the Ministry of Defence to reconsider its policy.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The Ministry of Defence has a duty to ensure that common law compensation claims are paid at the correct level where there is a legal liability to do so. In exceptional circumstances surveillance might be undertaken to observe the true extent of a claimant's alleged injuries in cases where there is a reasonable suspicion about the veracity of a claim or where medical evidence suggests that the claimant's disability is wholly inconsistent with the type of injury. Claims that are found to be grossly exaggerated are either repudiated or settled at a greatly reduced level of damages in line with the injury suffered and true levels of loss incurred by the claimant. Surveillance should be of no concern to claimants with a legitimate claim and where the alleged injury has not been grossly exaggerated in an attempt to extract higher levels of compensation.
	About 54,000 claims for compensation have been made against the Ministry of Defence since 2000 from which 284 cases have been subject to surveillance. Such surveillance is not restricted to service personnel, but may be used in any case brought against the Ministry of Defence. In the vast majority of these cases, surveillance proved that the claim was grossly exaggerated resulting in very considerable savings to the defence budget.
	No formal consultation was undertaken with ex-service personnel organisations, but lawyers representing claimants bringing cases against the Ministry of Defence are fully aware of the department's policy on surveillance. The average cost of surveillance is about £1,500 per case. The largest amount saved on an individual case that proved to be grossly exaggerated was about £1 million.
	This policy relates only to common law compensation claims where the claimant is suing the department, not to the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme.

Banking: Bonuses

Lord King of West Bromwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government what monitoring systems are in place to prevent banks in the private and public sectors from awarding excessive bonuses.

Lord Myners: The Government have made clear that the banking industry must develop sustainable long-term remuneration policies to prevent excessive risk-taking, both in the UK and internationally.
	The FSA has published a code of practice on remuneration, which it intends to add to the FSA handbook. The consultation on the code recently closed and the FSA is reviewing responses with a view to having the code in place for firms 2009 remuneration processes. In the Governments recent paper Reforming Financial Markets the Chancellor announced that he has asked the FSA to provide an annual report on remuneration practices, including compliance with the FSAs new code, emerging risks to financial stability, and any action that needs to be taken.
	Institutional shareholders also need to be more actively engaged in monitoring the boards of the bank in which they have invested, including in respect of remuneration. In relation to the banks in which the Government have a stake, UKFI has been engaging with the banks to ensure that they offer incentives based on the Governments principles on remuneration, including no rewards for failure, and therefore protect the interest of the taxpayer as a shareholder.

Banking: Small Businesses

Lord King of West Bromwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government what incentives are available to encourage banks to provide financial support to small businesses.

Lord Myners: Incentives available to encourage banks to provide financial support to small businesses include the enterprise finance guarantee scheme (EFG) and the working capital scheme (WCS).
	The EFG is aimed at viable companies with insufficient security at the margins of commercial lending. If a company does not have sufficient security to be offered a normal commercial loan, it may then be offered a loan through EFG. The EFG provides a 75 per cent government guarantee on individual loans to viable businesses with less than £25 million turnover. It will enable an additional £1.3 billion of lending to businesses up to end of March 2010, on top of normal commercial lending. Under the EFG, 3,350 businesses have been offered loans totalling £327 million as of 24 June.
	The WCS was announced on 14 January by BERR and guarantees have now been provided which meet the Government's commitment to provide an initial tranche of £l billion of guarantees. It offers £l billion in capital guarantees to participating banks, up to 50:50 risk share on short-term working capital loans for businesses with an annual turnover of up to £500 million.
	In addition, small businesses will benefit from the legally binding lending commitments entered into by Lloyds Banking Group and RBS as a condition of these banks accessing the asset protection scheme. Lloyds Banking Group will lend an additional £14 billion, and RBS an additional £25 billion, on commercial terms over the 12 months from March 2009.

Bats

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government in respect of the two bridges for bats constructed on the Dobwalls bypass in Cornwall, (a) what was the purpose of the bridges; (b) how much they cost to build; (c) how many bats have been monitored using the bridges; (d) how many bats used the route of those bridges before they were built; (e) how many bats cross the bypass without using the bridges; and (f) how many bats have hit cars using the bypass since the bridges were built.

Lord Adonis: (a) The bridges provide a linear feature over the bypass that is used by the bats to guide them along their flight lines. Previously they used the hedgerows but these were removed by the scheme.
	(b) The bridges cost £300,000 to construct.
	(c) Sample monitoring during 2008 and 2009 has identified that on the day of the survey on average there were between 11 and 17 bats using the bridges to cross the bypass.
	(d) In 2004, prior to construction of the scheme, on the day of the survey, some 30 to 40 bat movements were recorded at the bridge locations.
	(e) The monitoring exercise concentrated on bat movement at the bridge. There is consequently no specific data about how many bats cross the bypass without using the bridge.
	(f) There have been no recorded incidents of bats hitting cars since the bridges were built.

Bigamy

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much is paid annually to members of bigamous Islamic families in housing benefit and other social security payments.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The social security system only recognises relationships that have been lawfully contracted in the UK or in other jurisdictions.

Businesses: Overseas Relocation

Lord Baker of Dorking: To ask Her Majesty's Government which British companies have moved their domicile to other countries in each of the last three years; and what is the estimated loss of tax revenue from those moves.

Lord Myners: The Government are aware of a small number of British companies moving the tax residence of their parent company out of the UK over the past three years. The Government estimate that loss of UK tax as a consequence of these moves will be minimal.
	The Government remain committed to enhancing the competitiveness of the UK, and recently announced a reform to the way that the UK taxes foreign corporate profits. From the first of this month, a wide ranging dividend exemption was introduced which enhances the UK's competitive position, allowing companies, including UK headquarters, to bring profits back to the UK tax free.
	The Government have also committed to reforming the controlled foreign company regime in consultation with business, to enhance the UK's competitive position while maintaining protection of the UK tax base.

Channel Islands: Food Supplements

Earl Howe: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Medicines (Human and Veterinary) (Bailiwick of Guernsey) Law 2008 has come into force in Guernsey; and whether the Government of Guernsey have given a timetable for its implementation.

Lord Bach: The Medicines Law is not yet in force in Guernsey. It remains the intention of Guernsey's Administration that the Law will commence with effect from 1 October 2009, through seeking approval of a Commencement Ordinance in the States of Deliberation shortly beforehand.

Children: Children's Commissioner

Baroness Walmsley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to ensure that the post of Children's Commissioner for England is compliant with the United Nations principles relating to the status and functioning of national institutions for protection and promotion of human rights (the Paris principles).

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: The role and functions of the Children's Commissioner for England were debated in Parliament at length during the passage of the Children Act 2004.
	As set out in the Children Act 2004, the Children's Commissioner for England must have regard to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.
	The Commissioner attends meetings of the European Network of Ombudsmen for Children (ENOC), the association of independent children's rights institutions. ENOC's mandate is to facilitate the promotion and protection of the rights of children, as formulated in the Convention on the Rights of the Child
	The Government's priority is to support the Children's Commissioner in making the most of his current powers. We have no plans to review these powers.

Children: UN Committee on the Rights of the Child

Baroness Verma: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to communicate to Parliament for consideration and further action the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and their response.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to communicate to children the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child and their response.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: The Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child provide an extremely helpful framework and we are working with key stakeholders such as NGOs and children and young people to take them forward.
	In response to the UN committee's Concluding Observations, through a Written Statement to the House of Commons in October 2008, the Government committed to consider the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child's Concluding Observations with NGOs. The Minister of State for Children, Young People and Families, Beverley Hughes, also wrote to Members of Parliament on progress, next steps and alerting them to the Statement to the House.
	When I gave evidence on children's rights to the Joint Committee on Human Rights, in March 2009, I proposed to meet Ministers from devolved Administrations to discuss what a clear articulation of the UK's response to the concluding recommendations should look like.
	In June, I met Ministers from the devolved Administrations and agreed that the Government will publish a UK-wide action plan this year, which sets out how the UK is responding to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child's Concluding Observations and how each of the devolved Administrations are considering the recommendations within the context of their own national requirements.
	Copies of the UK-wide action plan will be placed in both House Libraries.
	The action plan will be easy to access and understand by children and young people. In England, we are involving children and young people in the development of the plan and will be seeking their views on action and how we communicate it.

Children: UN Convention

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they have in place to ensure that all legislation is compliant with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child; and how those arrangements are implemented.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: The UK is fully committed to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The Government implement the convention through a combination of legislation and policy initiatives. As set out, for example in the Government's Children Plan for England, the ambitions for children and young people and the policies to deliver these, reflect and are informed by the General Principles and the Articles of the UNCRC.
	Legislation is subject to scrutiny by a range of bodies including the Joint Committee on Human Rights and interested parties such as the Children's Commissioner and NGOs concerned with children's rights.
	All of these bodies can and do play a very important role in scrutinising and commenting on the degree to which new legislative proposals would be consistent with the UK's obligation under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

City of London

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the answer by Lord Myners on 2 July (HL Deb, col. 328), what is their estimate of the contribution to United Kingdom tax made by firms in the City of London, split between investment management, investment banking, other banking and insurance.

Lord Myners: Total tax and national insurance contributions collected from the financial sector are estimated to be £32.5 billion in 2008/09. Estimates are not available for the different sub-sectors requested.

Education: Overseas Students

Lord King of West Bromwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many private students from (a) India, (b) Pakistan, and (c) Bangladesh came to the United Kingdom to study in (1) universities, and (2) colleges of further and higher education, in each of the last five years.

Lord Davies of Abersoch: The department does not hold information separating private from non-private overseas students attending UK higher education institutions (HEIs) or English further education colleges.
	Table 1 contains figures from the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) on entrants to UK HEIs from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Figures for the 2008-09 academic year will be available in January 2010.
	
		
			 Table 1: Entrants (1) Domiciled in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh UK Higher Education Institutions (2) Academic Years 2003/04 to 2007/08 
			 Academic Year India Pakistan Bangladesh 
			 2003/04 8,240 2,820 900 
			 2004/05 9,290 4,105 1,030 
			 2005/06 10,765 4,450 1,140 
			 2006/07 14,095 5,220 1,485 
			 2007/08 16,210 5,205 1,520 
		
	
	Source: Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA).
	Notes: Figures are based on a HESA standard registration population and have been rounded to the nearest five. (1) Covers entrants to all levels of study and both full-time and part-time courses. (2) Excludes the Open University due to inconsistencies in their coding of entrants across the time series.
	Table 2 shows the number of learners participating in Further Education provision in 2003/04 to 2007/08 whose country of domicile is India, Pakistan or Bangladesh.
	
		
			 Table 2: Learners participating in Further Education provision in England from India, Pakistan and Bangladesh Academic Years 2003/04 to 2007/08 
			 Academic Year India Pakistan Bangladesh 
			 2003/04 2,700 1,500 700 
			 2004/05 2,800 1,500 600 
			 2005/06 2,800 1,500 600 
			 2006/07 3,200 1,700 700 
			 2007/08 3,000 2,000 800 
		
	
	Source: FE Individualised Learner Record.
	Notes:
	1) Numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred.
	2) Further Education Provision includes General Further Education Colleges including Tertiary, Sixth Form Colleges, Special CollegeAgricultural and Horticultural Colleges and Art and Design Colleges, Specialist Colleges and External Institutions.
	3) Data include both LSC funded and non-LSC funded learners for whom providers have made returns on the Individualised Learner Record.
	4) This information is based on Country of Domicileinstitutions are advised that the Country of Domicile should be treated as a self-assessment field and reflect the country where the learner was ordinarily resident for the three years preceding the start of their programme.

Energy: Prices

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what measures they are taking to protect the United Kingdom from volatile energy prices, in the light of their plans to cut carbon dioxide emissions by 34 per cent.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The Government are taking a number of measures to promote security of supply and thus reduce price volatility, including: updating the planning and consenting regimes for gas supply infrastructure to facilitate capacity investment, continuing to push for liberalisation of EU energy markets, and promoting energy efficiency. Greater reliance on renewable energy sources will also reduce the UK's exposure to fluctuations in global energy prices.

EU: Financial Institutions

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majestys Government whether they have estimated the amount of tax which may be lost as a result of United Kingdom financial companies relocating outside the United Kingdom in order to avoid the European Unions proposed directive on alternative investment fund managers and other European Union regulatory and supervisory proposals which may affect them.

Lord Myners: The Government are working closely with the European Commission, other member states and the European Parliament to ensure that the legislation, when finalised, enhances the single market and is proportionate. No estimate has been made of its potential effect on tax.

EU: Financial Institutions

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majestys Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Myners on 20 July (WA 278), how many firms have relocated to Switzerland from the City of London in (a) the last year, and (b) the previous year; and what were their respective contributions to United Kingdom tax revenue.

Lord Myners: The Government are aware of one UK group that has announced it will move the tax residence of its parent company from the UK to Switzerland in 2009 and none in 2008.
	The Government are unable to release information on individual taxpayers.

EU: Financial Institutions

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the answer by Lord Myners on 2 July (HL Deb, col. 328), when they expect to receive the European Commission's impact assessments on its draft Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers and its proposed financial supervisory powers; and whether they will place them in the Library of the House.

Lord Myners: A copy of the Commission's impact assessment on its 30 April 2009 proposals for an alternative investment fund managers directive was deposited in both Houses on 6 May 2009.
	A copy of the Commission's impact assessment on its 27 May 2009 communication European Financial Supervision was deposited in both Houses on 28 May 2009.

EU: Fraud and Financial Mismanagement

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majestys Government further to the Written Statement by Lord Myners on 20 July (WS 147), when there will be a debate on the Statement on the 2009 EC budget and measures to combat fraud and financial mismanagement (Cm 7640).

Lord Myners: The Government have no current plans for a debate on this annual White Paper, which is the twenty-ninth in its series.

Financial Services Authority

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what banks are operating in the United Kingdom which are not regulated by the Financial Services Authority.

Lord Myners: This is a matter for the Financial Services Authority (FSA), which is independent from the Government. The noble Lord's inquiry has been passed to the FSA, which will write directly to him on this subject.

Health: Botox

Lord Jopling: To ask Her Majesty's Government what quantities of botulinum toxin products have been imported into the United Kingdom in the last year for which figures are available; and from which countries.

Lord Myners: HM Revenue and Customs is responsible for the collection of data on imports of goods into the United Kingdom. It is not possible to identify the quantity of botulinum toxin products imported into the UK from the data held.

Incitement to Disaffection

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will introduce legislation to repeal the Incitement to Disaffection Act 1934.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will introduce legislation to repeal section 3 of the Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act 1919, which created an offence of causing or attempting to cause sedition or disaffection.

Lord Bach: As I indicated during debate at Lords Committee stage of the Coroners and Justice Bill (Official Report, 9/7/09, col. 850), the Government intend to bring forward amendments at Report to abolish the common law offences of sedition and seditious libel. We have considered whether, as a consequence of that decision, the immediate repeal without replacement of the offences under the Incitement to Disaffection Act 1934 and section 3 of the Aliens Restriction (Amendment) Act 1919 could also be justified. But we need to consider more fully than the Bill timetable will allow whether the abolition of those offences would leave a gap in the law.

Licensing: Live Music

Lord Clement-Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (a) student unions, (b) clubs and associations, (c) church halls and community centres, (d) pubs and inns, (e) small clubs, (f) hotels and (g) restaurants and cafes had a premises licence or a club premises certificate in each year since the Licensing Act 2003 came into force.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many new applications were granted for the performance of live music in (a) student unions, (b) clubs and associations, (c) church halls and community centres, (d) pubs and inns, (e) small clubs, (f) hotels and (g) restaurants and cafes in each year since the Licensing Act 2003 came into force.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many (a) student unions, (b) clubs and associations, (c) church halls and community centres, (d) pubs and inns, (e) small clubs, (f) hotels and (g) restaurants and cafes were licensed for the performance of live music in each year since the Licensing Act 2003 came into force.

Lord Davies of Oldham: We do not hold all of the information that has been requested. Since the implementation of the Licensing Act 2003, DCMS has been collecting Alcohol, Entertainment and Late Night Refreshment statistics for England and Wales on an annual basis by financial year from licensing authorities. The statistical collection identifies how many premises have permission, in the form of a premises licence or club premises certificate, to put on regulated entertainment, including live music. However, it is not known how many different types of premises (e.g. student unions) have obtained an appropriate permission to cover live performances of music. In some cases, a premises may decide to put on an event by giving a temporary event notice.
	The latest statistical bulletin reports there were an estimated 195,500 premises licences and 17,500 club premises certificates as at 31 March 2008 in England and Wales. These include an estimated 80,500 premises licences with live music provisions and an estimated 10,900 club premises certificates with live music provisions.
	There is no centrally collected data on the number of new applications granted solely for the performance of live music.

Migrant Workers: Bulgarians and Romanians

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government why data on allocation of National Insurance numbers were removed from the UK Border Agency's quarterly Bulgarian and Romanian accession statistics; and where they are now.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how many National Insurance numbers have been allocated to (a) Bulgarians, and (b) Romanians, since those countries accessions to the European Union.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: A new quarterly National Statistics series on National Insurance Number allocations to adult overseas nationals entering the UK, including Bulgarian and Romanian nationals, was published by the Department for Work and Pensions from August 2008.
	These National Statistics replaced the previously published management information on National Insurance Numbers allocated to accession nationals which were removed from the UK Border Agency report on Bulgarian and Romanian Accession Statistics from August 2008.
	Quarterly National Statistics on National Insurance Number Allocations to all adult overseas nationals entering the UK are available via the DWP website: http://research.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp.
	Information on the number of National Insurance Numbers that have been allocated to (a) Bulgarians, and (b) Romanians, since those countries accessions to the European Union, is in the table below.
	
		
			 Number of National Insurance Numbers allocated from January 2007 to December 2008 
			  Bulgaria (Thousands) Romania(Thousands) 
			 Jan-07 to Mar-07 1.43 2.26 
			 Apr-07 to Jun-07 2.96 5.53 
			 Jul-07 to Sep-07 5.05 6.27 
			 Oct-07 to Dec-07 2.81 5.11 
			 Jan-08 to Mar-08 3.14 6.05 
			 Apr-08 to Jun-08 4.42 6.73 
			 Jul-08 to Sep-08 5.87 6.76 
			 Oct-08 to Dec-08 2.46 3.9 
		
	
	Notes:
	1. Definitions and conventions: Figures are rounded to the nearest ten and displayed in thousands. Some additional disclosure control has been applied.
	2. Registration date is derived from the date at which a National Insurance Number is maintained on the National Insurance Recording System.
	3. Bulgaria and Romania both gained entry to the European Union in January 2007.
	4. This information is available on the DWP website at http://research.dwp.gov.ukiasd/
	Source:
	1. 100% extract from National Insurance Recording System.

Migrant Workers: Bulgarians and Romanians

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many Romanian and Bulgarian nationals who are self-employed in the United Kingdom have registered their business activity with HM Revenue and Customs in (a) Northern Ireland, and (b) Great Britain, since Romania's and Bulgaria's accessions to the European Union.

Lord Myners: The number of Romanian and Bulgarian nationals who registered with HM Revenue & Customs as self-employed in the period 1 January 2007 to 30 June 2009 inclusive, where their address is recorded as being in Northern Ireland or Great Britain, is shown in the table below.
	The figures are estimates based on a sample scan of HM Revenue & Custom National Insurance Recording System.
	
		
			  Great Britain Northern Ireland 
			 Romanian 26,500 400 
			 Bulgarian 15,000 250

National Lottery: Big Lottery Fund

Lord Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money the Big Lottery Fund has awarded to brass bands in Wales.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Big Lottery Fund has made no awards to brass bands in Wales.

National Offender Management Service

Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total expenditure of the National Offender Management Service head office and regional offices in financial years 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09.

Lord Bach: NOMS HQ administration costs (as used in the Supply Estimates and MoJ resource accounts), in 2008-09 were £74 million; or £151 million if public sector prisons' administration costs are included. This is 1.7 per cent or 3.1 per cent respectively of the total NOMS resource expenditure.
	The total resource expenditure of the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) HQ is as follows:
	
		
			 2008-09 £1,193m 
			 2007-08 £1,114m 
			 2006-07 £954m 
			 2005-06 £863m 
			 2004-05 £212m 
		
	
	The figures are as recorded in the Ministry of Justice (MOJ) Departmental Annual Report 2008-09 except for the 2008-09 figure, which was an estimate and is as per the MOJ annual accounts.
	The major component of this expenditure relates to services which transferred from HM Prison Service and from the National Probation Directorate and are either front-line services, such as electronic monitoring and prisoner escort service, or in support of front-line services, such as prison property maintenance. Although this expenditure is managed at NOMS HQ, it is not simply the head office function. For example, the following table provides an analysis of the £1,193m expenditure in 2008-09:
	
		
			  £ million 
			 Prison and Probation Property 570 
			 Electronic Monitoring 93 
			 Prisoner Escort Service (includes Operation Safeguard) 162 
			 Payments to Probation Trusts 112 
			 Other Programme expenditure 182 
			 Administration Costs expenditure 74 
			 Total resource expenditure 1,193 
		
	
	The £570 million expenditure on Prison and Probation Property relates to costs associated with the custodial and the probation estate including: capital charges; estate management including major maintenance; and, where applicable, rent, rates, insurance and utilities.
	Electronic Monitoring (i.e. tagging of prisoners on licence or people on bail) and prisoner escort services are outsourced national contracts managed centrally. Payments to Probation Trusts are the allocation by NOMS of the funding for their running costs. Other programme expenditure includes other expenditure related to front-line services, for example: grants and payments to the third sector (e.g. for voluntary Approved Premises); payment to the Department of Health for drug treatment; and IT support. Administration costs cover the central NOMS functions of finance, HR, policy making, NOMS board, etc.
	Care should be taken in comparing figures over time. The components of NOMS headquarters have changed over time as a result of changes in the management of certain functions. For example, from 1 April 2008 NOMS became an agency and certain services transferred to the Ministry of Justice centre; at the same time, some expenditure which had previously been included in HM Prison Service and so classified as public prisons now falls into NOMS headquarters.
	The above annual expenditure figures include expenditure on the regional offender managers (ROM) offices.

Parking Fines

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government following the judgment in Barnet v The Parking Adjudicator [2006] EWHC 2357 that penalty charge notices which did not carry two dates (date of contravention and date of issue) were a nullity from which no financial liability arises, and the subsequent letter to local authorities from the Chief Adjudicator of the Traffic Penalty Tribunal instructing them to comply with the judgment, whether any local authorities have disregarded that advice; and, if so, which ones.

Lord Adonis: The Department for Transport does not hold such information. Local authorities, rather than the Government, are responsible for ensuring that their own activities are compliant with the relevant legislation.

Parking Fines

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps are being taken to ensure that the same standard of compliance with the Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 in respect of traffic signs and road markings, which is a condition for authorising new civil parking enforcement powers to a local authority, is applied as a condition for lawful parking enforcement in local authorities that were exercising de-criminalised parking enforcement under the Road Traffic Act 1991.

Lord Adonis: The Department for Transport has, since late 2005, required a senior official from the local authority to confirm, in writing, six weeks before civil parking enforcement can come into force that there has been a complete review of the Traffic Regulation Orders, traffic signs and road markings within the entire proposed civil enforcement area, any deficiencies highlighted by this review have been rectified, and as a result they all conform to legislation and are consistent with one another. The Government have no plans to seek such an undertaking from local authorities that were given parking enforcement power before this requirement was introduced.

Parking Fines

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majestys Government when officers of the Department for Transport and its predecessors have addressed meetings of the Joint Committee of Parking And Traffic Regulations Outside London; whether such officers have informed the joint committee in any such addresses of the condition of compliance of traffic signs and road markings with the traffic signs regulations and general directions before lawful enforcement of parking restrictions is possible; and, if not, when such instructions will be presented.

Lord Adonis: On 7 October 2008 the head of traffic management division at the Department for Transport (DfT) gave a speech to a meeting of the Joint Committee of Parking and Traffic Regulations Outside London (PATROL), on behalf of DfT Ministers. The speech reviewed parking enforcement six months after the implementation of relevant parts of Part 6 of the Traffic Management Act 2004, and encouraged local authorities to adopt best practice in parking enforcement, in particular by taking full account of statutory guidance and carrying out regular reviews of policy and processes. DfT has no plans to address PATROL members about their duty to comply with specific items of legislation.

Prisoners: Voting Rights

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majestys Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Bach on 7 May (WA 1456), whether in their second consultation on implementing the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in Hirst (No. 2) v United Kingdom they will consult prisoners.

Lord Bach: The second consultation on the voting rights of convicted prisoners was opened on 8 April 2009. We have sought to engage directly with a broad range of groups and organisations that support or campaign on behalf of prisoners, and sent copies of the consultation to organisations representing prisoners, together with other stakeholders, including those organisations who represent victims of crime.
	Although we have already received some responses from serving prisoners, in the light of the limitations prisoners may face in accessing the consultation, we have also sent a communication to prison governors requiring them to take steps to ensure that prisoners are aware of the consultation if they have not already done so. We welcome responses from all those with an interest in this issue.

Probation Service

Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the total expenditure of the Probation Service in England and Wales in financial years 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, and 2008-09.

Lord Bach: The following table provides resource expenditure figures for probation boards and trusts. This is taken from the published annual consolidated accounts of local probation boards for 2004/05 to 2007/08. For 2008/09 the consolidated accounts for local boards are not yet published and the figure is taken from the National Offender Management Service annual report and accounts.
	
		
			 Year Resource 
			  £ million 
			 2008/09 (Provisional) 897 
			 2007/08 845 
			 2006/07 807 
			 2005/06 770 
			 2004/05 688 
		
	
	Due to organisational and structural changes, the expenditure on probation services met directly by local boards and trusts (and hence included in their accounts) has changed. Some expenditure, notably some IT and premises costs, has been met centrally by the National Probation Directorate or by the National Offender Management Service. Care should be taken in comparing figures over a long period of time.

Probation Service

Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many staff by grade are employed by the Probation Service in England and Wales; and what are the projected workforce employment figures for (a) 31 March 2010, and (b) 31 March 2011.

Lord Bach: The table shows the number of staff in post in the National Probation Service in England and Wales on 31 December 2007, the latest date for which information is available.
	
		
			 Job Group Total1 
			 Chief Officer 42.00 
			 Deputy Chief Officer 72.17 
			 Assistant Chief Officer 300.68 
			 Area/District Manager 185.60 
			 Middle Manager 1,596.22 
			 Senior Practitioner 258.05 
			 Probation Officer 5,368.16 
			 Practice Development Assessor 171.89 
			 Trainee Probation Officer 1,138.00 
			 Treatment Manager 161.47 
			 Probation Services Officer 6,060.30 
			 Psychologist 17.20 
			 Other Operational Staff 615.76 
			 Support Staff - Administration 4,494.75 
			 Support Staff - Other 297.54 
			 Other Staff 114.57 
			 Total 20,894.34 
		
	
	1The figures provided are Full Time Equivalent (FTE) and are about to be made public.
	As no final decisions have been taken on budgets for subsequent years, it is not possible to provide accurate staffing projections for March 2010 and 2011.
	Responsibility for resourcing levels ultimately lies with each probation board or trust, as they are the employers of probation staff. It is for them to take the action necessary at a local level to ensure they can deliver the required service within available resources.

Schools: Exclusion

Baroness Garden of Frognal: To ask Her Majesty's Government what research they have carried out into the use of informal exclusion of children by schools and the impact of that on children's education.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: The department last directly commissioned research on this topic from Ofsted in April 2005. Ofsted conducted a survey involving 13 local authorities and found that most were aware of a small number of unofficial exclusions, and had mechanisms in place to detect these.
	However, we also funded TreeHouse, a non-maintained special school in North London, for children with autism, to work with 10 local parent support groups to campaign constructively for better autism services. One of the groups was particularly interested in informal exclusions and TreeHouse decided to survey the parents in all 10 projects. This reported that 55 per cent of parents reported that their child had been illegally excluded at some time.
	It is difficult to measure the prevalence of informal exclusions due to their unlawful nature.
	The department recognises the importance of tackling informal/unofficial exclusions, since they can have serious impact on children's education, particularly if they are used repeatedly or result in the child being removed from education for a long period of time. For these reasons, the departments guidance on exclusions, to which head teachers and local authorities must have regard, gives an unequivocal message that unofficial exclusions are illegal and should not take place. Additional guidance is available from the department setting out effective practice for local authorities and schools in managing and eliminating incidents of unofficial exclusion.

Sport: Active People Survey

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many interviews were undertaken in each London borough in compiling the Active People Survey I and the Active People Survey II.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The target number of survey respondents (adults aged 16 and over) in each London borough was as follows:
	Active People Survey 1: 1,000.
	Active People Survey 2: 500.

Sport: Active People Survey

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people in the Borough of Lewisham responded to the Active People Survey I and the Active People Survey II.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The actual number of survey respondents (adults aged 16 and over) in the Borough of Lewisham was as follows:
	Active People Survey 1: 997.
	Active People Survey 2: 507.

Taxation: Income Tax

Lord Selkirk of Douglas: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Myners on 8 July (WA 1734), what percentage of the respective populations of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland (a) paid income tax in 200607 and 200708, and (b) are projected to pay income tax in 200809 and 200910.

Lord Myners: The estimated proportions of the total population in each country with an income tax liability are shown in the table.
	
		
			  England  (%) Wales  (%) Scotland  (%) Northern Ireland   (%) 
			 2006-07 52 50 53 45 
			 2007-08 53 50 53 45 
			 2008-09 50 48 51 43 
			 2009-10 47 45 49 40 
		
	
	These figures are based on estimates for the number of taxpayers in 2006-07 and projections for later years prepared by HM Revenue & Customs, and the population estimates for mid-2006 and mid-2007, and projections for later years, prepared by the Office for National Statistics.
	The decline of the proportion of people with an income tax liability in recent years is mainly due to above indexation increases to personal allowances. Country variation reflects levels of employment.

Taxation: Intellectual Property

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to prevent companies leaving the United Kingdom in the light of Europe's intellectual property tax laws.

Lord Myners: The Government have committed to reforming the way in which the UK taxes foreign corporate profits. From the first of this month, a wide-ranging dividend exemption was introduced which enhances the UK's competitive position, allowing companies, including UK headquarters, to bring profits back to the UK tax free.
	The Government have also committed to reforming the controlled foreign company regime in consultation with business, in order to enhance the UK's competitive position while maintaining protection of the UK tax base and, as announced at the last Budget, are currently reviewing the balance of taxation of innovative activity.

Equality

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what improvements have been made to the quality of life of elderly people, disabled people, black and ethnic minority people and those living in relative poverty as a result of their initiatives to tackle inequalities.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Government are taking action to tackle inequality and promoting a fair and equal society and thereby improving the quality of life for disadvantaged groups. Government achievements since 1997 include: significantly improving the employment rate of disabled people, reducing the proportion of disabled people without a qualification, reducing the gap in employment rates for minority ethnic groups from almost 17 percentage points in 2003 to 12.5 percentage points, and lifting 900,000 pensioners out of relative poverty since 1998-99. The Government are building on these achievements through a challenging set of Public Service Agreements.

G8: Gleneagles Aid Commitments

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to ensure the aid commitments from the Gleneagles G8 Summit in 2005 are met.

Lord Brett: The UK is firmly committed to ensuring that G8 countries are meeting their Gleneagles promises. That is why this year we strongly supported a G8 interim accountability framework showing what progress each country is making towards meeting some key commitments. In 2010, the G8 will present a comprehensive report on past development promises, and the UK will press for transparent and full engagement from all G8 partners in this process.
	The G8 this year reaffirmed its commitment to the Gleneagles target to increase annual ODA to Africa by US$25 billion a year and overall ODA by an estimated $50 billion by 2010. The UK is on track to meet its ODA targets of 0.56 per cent by 2010 and continues to encourage G8 countries to meet their aid commitments.

Government Initiatives: Advertising

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government which initiatives of the Department for International Development or its agencies have been advertised in each of the past five years; how much was spent in each case; and which were carried out via the Central Office of Information.

Lord Brett: In the past five years, the Department for International Development (DFID) has spent the following on advertising and publicity. Ninety-eight per cent of this expenditure has been for procurement and recruitment reasons.
	
		
			 Year Total amount (£) Amount spent via COI 
			 2004 703,719 Nil 
			 2005 423,952 Nil 
			 2006 699,898 Nil 
			 2007 310,191 75,990 
			 2008 338,887 338,887 
		
	
	DfID has advertised other initiatives that do not fall into the categories above during the past five years, but information on them is not held centrally and cannot be provided without incurring disproportionate costs.
	DfID has one non-departmental public body, the Commonwealth Scholarships Commission (CSC), which undertakes publicity and advertising to promote scholarship opportunities and the commissions professional fellowship programme. The breakdown of spend over the past five years is shown below:
	
		
			 Year Total amount Amount spent via COI 
			 2004-5 24,366 Nil 
			 2005-6 19,562 Nil 
			 2006-7 20,342 Nil 
			 2007-8 19,346 Nil 
			 2008-9 12,426 Nil

India: Dalits

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majestys Government what representations they have made concerning the Dalit Christian families who were victims of murder, persecution and the destruction of homes and churches in Kandhamal, Orissa, India, in August 2008; and how many families remain in camps.

Lord Brett: The Department for International Development (DfID) raised the persecution of Dalit Christian families in Kandhamal district with the Government of Orissa during our annual bilateral aid discussions in March 2009.
	The Government of Orissa have led the process to resettle families affected by the violence. The number of people housed in relief camps has come down from 24,000 in the wake of the violence to 700 at present. DfID will raise this matter with both the Government of Orissa and the Indian Government to press for the urgent resettlement of those who remain.

International Development

The Earl of Sandwich: To ask Her Majestys Government what proportion of their international development assistance is allocated to the least developed countries; and whether they will maintain that proportion in future budgets.

Lord Brett: In 2008-09, 51 per cent of the Department for International Developments (DfID) regional programme was allocated to the least developed countries. This proportion will be at least maintained in each of the next two years.

Newspaper Licensing Agency

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the annual payment from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to the Newspaper Licensing Agency in each of the past 10 years.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Defra was created in 2001. The following payments have been made to the NLA for licensing agreements for core Defra and Defra agencies since that date:
	
		
			 Year Total Cost including VAT £ 
			 2009 147,293.51 
			 2008 183,829.38 
			 2007 178,777.15 
			 2006 170,458.95 
			 2005 164,178.46 
			 2004 54,678.12 
			 2003 10,746.66 
			 2002 6,961.88 
			 2001 42,774.79 
		
	
	Costs have risen as distribution of cuttings has moved away from a hard copy service to electronic distribution with a wider circulation. NLA costs for electronic distribution are based on headcount rather than per hard copy. In addition, the number of agencies and NDPBs that are included in the NLA licensing arrangements as part of the Defra family have increased since Defra's inception in 2001.

Newspaper Licensing Agency

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the annual payment from each Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs agency to the Newspaper Licensing Agency in each of the past 10 years.

Lord Davies of Oldham: Most Defra agencies and NDPBs are covered by the central NLA agreement. I refer the noble Lord to my Answer to HL5201. Figures are not held centrally for NLA payments made by Defra agencies outside of the central agreement. To gather this information would incur disproportionate cost.

Olympic Games 2012

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the legal status of the London Organising Committee for the Olympic Games; who owns it; and what will be its status after the Olympic Games in 2012.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Limited (LOCOG) is a private company limited by guarantee. Its members are the British Olympic Association, the Mayor of London and the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport. However, pursuant to an agreement between the company and its members in 2007, functions relating to the company in the Secretary of State's name are exercisable concurrently by the Secretary of State and the Paymaster General, my right honourable friend the Minister for the Olympics. The agreement is consistent with the Transfer of Functions (Olympics and Paralympics) Order 2007, which provided for all Games-related statutory functions in the Secretary of States name to be exercisable concurrently by the Secretary of State and the Paymaster General. LOCOG will be wound up after the Games in a timely manner.

Olympic Games 2012: Construction Vehicles

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majestys Government how many construction-related road vehicles and of what sizes and types are expected to access each of the main Olympic sites in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, and (d) 2012.

Lord Davies of Oldham: We expect the construction period, when the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is building the Olympic Park, venues and infrastructure, to be largely completed by mid-2011.
	The ODA records the number of vehicles entering the Olympic Park but does not record data relating to type or size of road vehicle. To date, there have been 270,000 two-way lorry movements.
	Based on the forecast average of 15,700 two-way movements per montha projection made in 2007 as part of the business case in support of the logistics projectthe ODA predicts the following construction-related two-way movements during the periods:
	
		
			 2009 78,500 
			 2010 188,400 
			 2011 94,200 
			 2012 As this is beyond the construction phase the ODA has no information for this year. 
		
	
	The ODA also records the number of vehicles accessing the off-park venuesfor example, Broxbourne, Eton Dorneybut due to the significantly smaller scale of these sites does not predict future vehicle movements accessing these venue sites.
	The ODA has committed to ensuring 50 per cent of materials by weight will be delivered by either rail or waterways, significantly reducing the number of construction-related vehicles from the road network.

Olympic Games 2012: Construction Vehicles

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many construction-related road vehicles and of what sizes and types accessing the main Olympic sites are expected to travel along which key roads in Greater London in (a) 2009, (b) 2010, (c) 2011, and (d) 2012.

Lord Davies of Oldham: We expect the construction period, when the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) is building the Olympic Park, venues and infrastructure, to be largely completed by mid-2011.
	All road deliveries have to go to one of the two off-site logistics centres, at Barking and Chigwell, prior to arriving at the Olympic Park. At those centres all deliveries are assigned an arrival time slot at the Olympic Park entrance plazas. The ODA has worked with the Metropolitan Police and the local boroughs to develop suggested route maps for all vehicles travelling from the logistics centres to the Olympic Park. These designated routes ensure all road deliveries remain on the A road network, using the A11, A12 and A13.
	While the ODA records the number of vehicles entering the Olympic Park it does not record data relating to type or size of road vehicles, nor the specific travel routes taken by construction-related road deliveries before arriving at the logistics centres.
	The ODA has committed to ensuring that 50 per cent of materials by weight will be delivered by either rail or waterways, significantly reducing the number of construction-related vehicles from the road network.

Olympic Games 2012: Construction Vehicles

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what monitoring arrangements the Olympic Delivery Authority has in place to measure air quality along key public roads used by construction-related road traffic accessing each of the main Olympic sites; and whether that monitoring shows that European Union limit values for particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide are being met along such roads.

Lord Davies of Oldham: As part of the environmental impact assessment submitted in support of the outline planning applications in 2007, the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA) undertook detailed air dispersion modelling in order to understand the effects of the Olympic Park development on air quality. The results showed that effects on air quality from construction-related traffic would be negligible and that year-on-year long-term concentrations of traffic-derived air pollutants would be reduced as a result of the increasing proportion of more stringent Euro emission-class vehicles in the national vehicle fleet.
	The ODA does not monitor air quality along the key public roads used by construction-related road traffic. Generally, local authorities have responsibility for monitoring the ambient air quality within their boroughs through a review and assessment process. Any significant construction activity, such as the Olympic Park development, would be taken into account in any such assessment. In addition, the ODA publishes the monitored data for noise and dust each month on the London 2012 website.
	The ODA does, however, have an extensive monitoring network around the Olympic Park site, but this is focused on construction activity and not road deliveries to the site. However, as the Olympic Park site is within the London low emission zone, all site delivery vehicles must comply with Euro III emission standards. The ODA also encourages its contractors delivery vehicles to comply with Euro IV standards.
	Furthermore, the ODA has committed to ensuring that 50 per cent of materials by weight will be delivered by either rail or waterways, significantly reducing the number of construction-related vehicles from the road network.

Olympic Games 2012: Energy

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made in using biomass from waste food or crops to provide power for the Olympic Park at Stratford.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The Olympic Park has an energy centre which, during Games time, will produce its energy from the combustion of both natural mains gas and biomass with the majority of energy being produced through the combustion of natural gas. There are also separate wood burning boilers which will produce entirely renewable energy and current plans are that these will use wood pellet rather than wood waste.
	The London Development Agency (LDA) is currently assessing the potential for a waste-derived gas solution to replace natural gas in the energy centre in legacy, which would then make the energy supply system wholly renewable.
	In addition, the LDA is looking at the possibility of a local food waste-to-fuel conversion plant to utilise Games-time food waste.

Olympic Games 2012: Shooting

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what person or organisation is responsible for specifying the equipment to be installed in the 2012 Olympic shooting venue; what meetings that person or organisation has had with British Shooting to discuss the specification of the equipment; when next that person or organisation intends to meet British Shooting for that purpose; and what expectations and proposals that person or organisation has for the reuse of the equipment after the Olympic Games.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) has responsibility for procuring the sporting equipment for the Olympic shooting events, with the specification set by the International Shooting Sport Federation as the ruling body for the Olympic shooting competition. LOCOG has the same responsibility for the Paralympic shooting events, with the specification set by the International Paralympic Committee.
	British Shooting has recently committed to work collaboratively with LOCOG and stakeholders to help define and secure the best possible legacy for the sport. As a consequence LOCOG is in the process of arranging an appropriate meeting with British Shooting to follow up on this welcomed support. LOCOG and the Olympic Delivery Authority will also assess the potential to reuse and relocate assets and equipment used in the 2012 shooting events in conjunction with British Shooting, government and Sport England.

Olympic Games 2012: Shooting

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government what proposals they have to secure a legacy for shooting from the 2012 Olympic Games, other than reuse of equipment.

Lord Davies of Oldham: There are three components to the legacy. First, the Olympic and Paralympic Games will provide the opportunity to showcase the shooting events in an iconic London location and raise the profile of the sport. Secondly, there is the reuse of sports equipment and shooting ranges following the Games. British Shooting has recently provided a much welcomed commitment to work with the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG) to help define and secure the best possible legacy from the Games. The engagement with British Shooting will consider every opportunity, including those that may exist beyond the reuse of equipment.
	Thirdly, through using inspiration of London 2012 Games, Sport England has recently invested £750,000 in the development of grassroots target shooting as part of the Whole Sports Plans 2009-13. The plan will harness the interest in the sport created by the 2012 Games and aims to increase participation levels.

Parliaments: Costs

Viscount Tenby: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the annual cost of maintaining (a) the House of Commons; (b) the House of Lords; and (c) the European Parliament, with the cost to the United Kingdom separately identified, including (1) salaries, pensions travelling allowances, secretarial expenses for Members; (2) salaries, allowances and pensions and other costs of supporting staff; (3) accommodation, including rent, operating costs and security; and (4) all other administrative costs such as stationery, office equipment, publications, payments to parliamentary bodies and other relevant outgoings for 200809 and the previous three financial years.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The information requested is set out in the table below. The House of Commons and House of Lords have provided data relating to costs on a resource basis, consistent with their resource accounts. This data replaces the information detailed in the Answer given to the noble Viscount on 24 June 2008, Official Report col. WA234-5.
	
		
			 House of Lords 
			 £ 000s 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 
			 Salaries, pensions, for Members (a) 18,988 18,399 17,718 15,613 
			 Salaries and pensions for admin staff 22,964 20,976 19,651 16,547 
			 Accommodation costs, including rent, operating costs and security 24,834 23,405 28,692 28,180 
			 Other administration costs (b) 39,754 89,772 41,008 49,839 
			 Total 106,540 152,552 107,069 110,179 
			 House of Commons 
			 £ 000s 2008-09 2007-08 2006-07 2005-06 
			 Salaries, pensions, for Members (c) 157,228 151,341 143,944 147,410 
			 Salaries and pensions for admin staff (d) 76,985 74,451 65,420 60,099 
			 Accommodation costs, including rent, operating costs and security (e) 94,896 94,718 89,442 91,812 
			 Other administration costs (f) 62,715 58,716 55,746 168,648 
			 Total 391,824 379,226 354,552 467,969 
		
	
	Notes:
	(a) Members of the House of Lords do not receive a salary but are entitled to reclaim reimbursement of expenses. This figure includes Members expenses.
	(b) Includes non-cash and capital expenditure.
	(c) Figures from resource accounts: Member salaries & pensions, staffing allowance, incidental expenses provision, additional costs allowance, communications allowance (from 1 April 2007), travel, contribution to Members staff pensions, temporary secretarial assistance, staff redundancy and winding-up allowance only.
	(d) Cost of House staff salaries taken from the resource accounts.
	(e) Accommodation costs taken from resource accounts include buildings rental, accommodation services and security, depreciation on land and buildings, and cost of capital charge.
	(f) This figure is the net resource outturn less (b) and (c). The figure for 2005-06 includes a technical accounting adjustment on the pension provision worth £115.7 million.
	The resource costs shown on accommodation services fluctuate depending on the type of projects undertaken during the year.
	European Parliament
	The European Parliament outtum figures for calendar years 2005, 2006 and 2007, and budget figures for 2008 and 2009 can be found on the European Parliament website(g).
	(g) European Parliament budget information can be found on their website: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/parliament/public/staticDisplay.do?Ianquage=EN&id=153

Revenue and Customs: Fraudulent E-mails

Lord Maginnis of Drumglass: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of fraudulent e-mails circulating under the designation HM Revenue and Customs with an e-mail address hmrc@hmrc-refund.com.uk and a postal address at Plymouth, PL6 5BZ, advising recipients of tax refunds due; whether they have referred that matter to the police; and whether HM Revenue and Customs has procedures for alerting the public about it.

Lord Davies of Oldham: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) takes online security, including instances of phishing, very seriously. Customers are encouraged to forward potentially fraudulent e-mails to the departments phishing mailbox, phishing@bhmrc.gsi.gov.uk. The e-mails are then analysed and action taken in concert with the Metropolitan Police to close them down.
	Information about phishing/scam attempts and advice on how to avoid fraud are provided to the public through the department's website at http://www.hmrc.gov. uk/security/fraud-scams.htm.
	HMRC is aware of this specific phishing attempt and is working with the Metropolitan Polices e-crime unit to close it down. HMRC did not publicise details on its website about this particular incident due to the very low numbers in circulation in comparison to other attacks. The department has advised customers who submitted it to the department's phishing mailbox that the email was a scam and that HMRC were taking action to disrupt it.

Sport: Active People Survey

Lord Moynihan: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the methodology and questionnaire format being used by IPSOS MORI in compiling the Active People Survey 3, showing how the sample of 500 people per local authority is prepared and implemented.

Lord Davies of Oldham: An easily accessible questionnaire briefing note is available on Sport England's website. This provides detail of every question in the survey, who it is asked of, and the rationale for each question (see link below). A hard copy of the actual CATI (Computer Aided Telephone Interviewing) questionnaire is available, on request, from Sport England.
	http://www.sportengland.org/research/active_people_survey/idoc.ashx?docid=fa95a28c-f30d-44cc-865d-613ee320c400&version=1
	The Active People Survey 3 is based on a random stratified sample to ensure minimum samples in each Local Authority in England. Random Digit Dialling (RDD) is used in the selection of the sample, with one respondent randomly selected from the eligible household members.
	Frequently Asked Questions outlining the methodology are available on Sport England's website (see link below). A full technical report is also is available, on request, from Sport England (this relates to Active People Survey 1, as subsequent technical reports have not yet been published).
	http://www.sportengland.org/research/active_people_survey/idoc.ashx?docid=ced8e91f-0ee8-4a20-8a6d-353e7c85d483&version=1

Warm Front Scheme

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government why an engineer registered under the Warm Front Scheme may carry out a boiler replacement that is eligible for a £300 voucher but may not do the same work if the householder is awarded a grant for the full cost.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Installers registered to work on the £300 rebate scheme cannot work on the Warm Front Scheme unless they are appointed to do so through the relevant competitive tendering process.

Warm Front Scheme

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government why engineers registered under the Warm Front Scheme have a £50 administrative charge debited from each £300 voucher they present for payment.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: The £50 administration charge is representative of eaga's (eaga is the UK's leading provider of residential energy efficiency solutions: http://www.eaga.com) costs of administering the voucher scheme.

Warm Front Scheme

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether engineers registered under the Warm Front Scheme will be able to claim tax allowances for administrative charges debited from £300 vouchers in the period before the Warm Front Scheme started to issue invoices for those debits.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Installers registered on the £300 rebate scheme are able to reclaim VAT for the administrative charge debited from the £300 voucher if they are VAT-registered with HM Revenue & Customs. Invoices for the administrative charge were issued from the start of the £300 rebate scheme.

Warm Front Scheme

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many engineers are registered under the Warm Front Voucher Scheme; how many under the full grant scheme; and how many in the former category have carried out work without being sent an invoice for the £50 administrative charge per claim.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: 7,924 installers are currently registered to work on the £300 rebate scheme. 116 installers are currently registered to work on the Warm Front Scheme.
	Every installer who has carried out work under the £300 rebate scheme will be sent an invoice for the £50 administrative charge.

Counterterrorism

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majestys Government what unclassified internal and external reports have been commissioned by the Home Office on the work of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism since its inception.

Lord West of Spithead: There are a number of unclassified documents that describe the work of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism. These include the Home Office departmental annual report and material on the Home Office website.
	The work of the Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism is also set out in detail in the unclassified CONTEST strategy, which was published on 24 March 2009. The strategy is available on the Home Office website and copies have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

DNA Database

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majestys Government why they propose to continue to retain DNA profiles of those arrested but not convicted in relation to serious, violent, or terrorist offences.

Lord West of Spithead: The consultation paper Keeping the Right People on the DNA Database published on 7 May 2009 sets out the retention periods proposed by the Government for consideration in compliance with the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights in the case of S and Marker. The research within that report indicates the propensity of some of those arrested and not convicted to offend in the future.
	We have concluded that a retention period of six years for most offences is reasonable with a longer period of 12 years for serious sexual, violent or terrorist-related offences. As the consultation paper indicates, we believe that a longer retention period for the serious offences recognises the serious consequences of such offences and the implications of a missed detection.

Extremism

Baroness Neville-Jones: To ask Her Majestys Government what impact the Home Office assesses the United Kingdoms foreign policy to have on levels of violent extremism within the United Kingdom.

Lord West of Spithead: I recognise that individual reactions to UK foreign policies, such as military involvement overseas, can be a factor in radicalisation and that violent extremists exploit this when recruiting others to their cause. But we also know that radicalisation occurs for a wide range of complex and personal reasons. The aim of the Government will continue to be to prevent radicalisation at home and abroad.

Interception of Communications

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majestys Government how the Interception Modernisation Programme and the Mastering the Internet programme will interact operationally and financially.

Lord West of Spithead: The Home Office and GCHQ work closely together. It is long-standing government policy not to comment further on intelligence matters.

Interception of Communications

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majestys Government whether they have any plans to intercept the content of internet communications; and, if so, what methods they are considering.

Lord West of Spithead: The Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000 makes provision for the lawful interception of communications, which includes content of internet communications. A range of technologies is used to ensure that effect can be given to warrants for lawful interception.

Interception of Communications

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majestys Government what costs the Interception Modernisation Programme will entail for communications service providers; and whether they will provide financial assistance to help meet those costs.

Lord West of Spithead: Current legislationthe Data Retention (EC Directive) Regulations 2009 (Statutory Instrument 2009/859)provides that the Secretary of State may, subject to prior agreement, reimburse any expenses incurred by a public communications provider in complying with the regulations for retention of communications data.
	The Governments consultation paper Protecting the Public in a Changing Communications Environment, published in April, outlined high-level initial estimates of the cost of the options considered as part of the Interception Modernisation Programme. These were in the range of up to £2 billion over a 10-year period. The Government have actively sought the views of business on the options and how to minimise their impact on business consistent with better regulation commitments.

National Security Strategy

Lord Harris of Haringey: To ask Her Majestys Government what consideration was given to the threat to the critical national infrastructure of a high-intensity electromagnetic pulse, produced by malign intent or as a result of solar activity, in preparing the National Security Strategy.

Lord West of Spithead: The Governments updated National Security Strategy takes into account the threat posed to UK interests, including the critical national infrastructure, by the full range of threat actors, a definition that includes natural hazards, as well as individuals or organisations with malign intent. The associated Cyber Security Strategy of the United Kingdom, published alongside and reflected in the National Security Strategy update, considers a number of methods of cyber attack, including those that generate high levels of power that can damage or disrupt unprotected electronics.
	In addition, the Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure (CPNI) provides advice on electronic or cyber protective security measures to the businesses and organisations that comprise the UKs critical national infrastructure, including public utilities companies and banks. CPNI also runs a CERT service which responds to reported attacks on private sector networks.

Passports: Interviews

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majestys Government what is the cost to date of remote passport personal interviews.

Lord West of Spithead: The operational cost of the video interview service has been £53,707 to the end of June 2009.

Terrorism

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majestys Government what assessment they have made of the EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report and the number of right-wing extremist groups in Europe.

Lord West of Spithead: The Government are committed to tackling extremism whatever form it takes. The police will use a full range of information and intelligence, including the EU Terrorism Situation and Trend Report, to inform their strategy to tackle right-wing extremism.

Terrorism

Lord Ahmed: To ask Her Majestys Government whether they take account of the colour, ethnicity or religion of suspects when deciding whether to prosecute them for crimes relating to terrorism.

Lord West of Spithead: Her Majestys Government do not take decisions whether or not to prosecute an individual. This is a matter for the police and the Crown Prosecution Service, which do so on the basis of the evidence available to them relating to an offence. The chief consideration is the evidence of criminal activity. Colour, ethnicity and religion are not factors taken into account when considering whether to prosecute.

Asylum Seekers

The Lord Bishop of Ripon and Leeds: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is their response to the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust's report Still Destitute and its conclusion that the new asylum model is not working.

Lord West of Spithead: The UK Border Agency will reply to the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust and respond substantively to the conclusions and recommendations made in its report Still Destitute in autumn of this year.

Children: UN Convention

Lord Judd: To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they have made to allocate responsibility for co-ordinating and evaluating the application of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child across the United Kingdom, including locally and in the devolved administrations, to a single and accountable government authority.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: As state party, the Westminster Government remain responsible for overall co-ordination of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) across the UK.
	We do this in a way that recognises that much of the convention falls within the jurisdiction of the devolved Administrations. The Government have therefore adopted a four nations approach to the implementation of the UNCRC to ensure a flexible response to the unique circumstances within each country, while maintaining the state partys commitment to the convention.
	The Department for Children, Schools and Families has a team leading on the co-ordination and implementation of the UNCRC across the UK. The team works closely with officials in the devolved Administrations, which enables them to have an overview of the key areas of progress being made across the whole of the UK to implement the convention.
	Officials also have regular discussions with key stakeholders including NGOs across the UK to monitor the progress made in the implementation of the convention.

Coroners: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average waiting time between deaths and related coroners' proceedings in Northern Ireland.

Lord Bach: In the period from 1 April 2008 to 31 March 2009 the coroner reported 3,436 deaths to the registrar. The average time between these deaths and the report to the registrar was:
	deaths not requiring post-mortem or inquest: (1,780 reported deaths (52 per cent)) - less than one week;deaths requiring post-mortem but no inquest: (1,448 reported deaths (42 per cent)) - 28 weeks, and deaths requiring inquest: (208 reported deaths (6 per cent)) - 108 weeks.

Coroners: Northern Ireland

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many coroners' inquest verdicts have been outstanding in Northern Ireland for (a) one year, (b) two years, and (c) three years.

Lord Bach: At 22 July 2009 there were 109 inquests outstanding.
	
		
			 Death Occurred Number of Inquests Outstanding 
			 Less than 1 year ago 34 
			 1 - 2 years ago 27 
			 2 - 3 years ago 6 
			 More than 3 years ago 42

Energy: Meters

Lord Hylton: To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the statement by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 15 July, what are smart grids; how those benefit the consumer; how smart meters will function; whether consumer prices will rise by six per cent or eight per cent per annum for electricity, gas and oil, or by eight per cent in real terms between now and 2020; what world prices for oil and gas lie behind those forecasts; how many wave and tidal power experimental test projects they expect there will be; and over what period.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: A smart grid is an electricity network that can intelligently integrate the actions of all users connected to it in order to maximise efficiency in delivery of sustainable, economic and secure electricity supplies. The potential benefits of a smart grid are set out in more detail in the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan laid before the House on 13 July. The use of smart meters gives consumers better information and control on energy usage, helping people to manage their energy demand and bills. The rollout of smart meters will be an important step towards development of a smart grid.
	The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) published a consultation document on 11 May covering a range of issues to be addressed in deciding how smart meters should be rolled out, including the minimum functionality which should be required of smart meters and possible delivery models.
	The Government estimate that the additional impact in 2020 of policies in the UK Low Carbon Transition Plan1 (p.96), relative to today, is £76, which is equivalent to approximately a 6 per cent increase to current average household energy bills.
	The transition plan estimates that the additional impact in 2020 of all climate change policies, relative to today, is £92 which is equivalent to approximately 8 per cent of current average household energy bills.
	Bill impacts are dealt with in more detail in the analytical annexe to the transition plan (http:// decc.gov. uk/en/content/cms/publications/lc_trans_plan/lc_trans plan.aspx).
	These estimates of the effects on bills are in 2009 prices, therefore all the increases are in real terms.
	DECC publishes crude oil, wholesale gas and coal price assumptions for the period till 2030, which are used in the department's analytical work, where relevant. The updated set of future wholesale price assumptions published in May 2009 can be found at http://www.berr. gov.uk/energy/environment/projections/recent/page26391.html
	The bill effect figures are based on the scenario 2 oil price assumptions, namely $80/barrel of oil in 2020.
	The UK Low Carbon Transition Plan and UK Low Carbon Industrial Strategy2 (published in parallel) outline a commitment to invest up to £60 million in UK marine energy infrastructure and technology demonstration. We expect that a variety of devices will be tested using the new infrastructure, and that a number of companies will benefit from the proving fund.
	1http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/publications/lc_trans_plan/lc_trans_plan.aspx
	2 http://interactive.bis.gov.uk/lowcarbon/publications/

Government Initiatives: Advertising

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government which initiatives of the Home Office or its agencies have been advertised in each of the last five years; how much was spent in each case; and which were carried out via the Central Office of Information.

Lord West of Spithead: The attached table outlines Home Office and its agencies spend on advertising in each of the last five years, broken down by campaign area. All were carried out via the Central Office of Information.
	
		
			 Year Campaign Cost 
			 2004-05   
			  Acquisitive Crime Reduction   Anti-Social Behaviour   Child Protection on the internet   Clean Up campaign 2005-06   Domestic Violence   Drugs (Including FRANK campaign)   Gun Crime   Police Specials Recruitment   UK Passport Service* £6,100,808   £366,553   £290,225   £25,722   £432,263   £936,688   £162,042   £1,885,559   £124,670 
			 2005-06   
			  Acquisitive Crime Reduction   Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign   Anti-Social Behaviour   Child Protection on the Internet   Clean Up Campaign   Crime Stoppers   Domestic Violence   Drugs (Including FRANK campaign)   Park Mark Car Parks   Police Specials Recruitment   Rape   UK Passport Service* £4,123,311   £92,204   £396,475   £862,229   £39,819   £82,182   £534,587   £1,524,701   £94,260   £1,389,166   £66,153   £76,000 
			 2006-07   
			  Acquisitive Crime Reduction   Alcohol Binge drinking   Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign   Child Protection on the Internet   Domestic Violence   Drugs (Including FRANK campaign)   Immigration   Knife Amnesty   PCSO Recruitment   Rape   Single Non-Emergency Number   Stop and Search   Identity & Passport Service (IPS) Communications* £3,266,192   £1,975,005   £231,713   £46,824   £800,384   £3,467,021   £790,860   £137,083   £1,748,743   £280,022   £780,325   £134,501   £105,950 
			 2007-08   
			  Alcohol Harm Reduction   Community Safety   Drugs (Including FRANK campaign)   Immigration   Kerb Crawling   Mobile Phone Blocking   IPS - Passport Authentication by Interview   IPS Communications* £2,900,41   £866,889   £898,509   £1,973,558   £218,025   £190,162   £1,043,714   £78,417 
			 2008-09   
			  Acquisitive Crime Reduction  Burglary   Alcohol Harm Reduction   Community Safety   Drugs (including FRANK campaign)   Human Trafficking   ImmigrationPoints-Based System   IPS Communications* £918,17   £2,790,203   £2,246,390   £717.397   £8,928   £2,453,007   £21,500 
		
	
	* IPS Communications costs (and its predecessor the UK Passport Authority) were related to informing the public of passport fee increases and encouraging the public to get the applications in early to help distribute passport demand more evenly throughout the year.

Government Initiatives: Advertising

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government which initiatives of the Department for Transport or its agencies (and its predecessors) have been advertised in each of the last five years; how much was spent in each case; and which were carried out via the Central Office of Information.

Lord Adonis: Expenditure for the Department for Transport's advertising campaigns from the 2004-05 fiscal year is in the table below.
	The majority of campaign advertising investment by the department is in support of the THINK! road safety and the Act on CO2 campaigns. Major advertising investment by executive agencies has been by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency, for the sale of marks, vehicle excise duty enforcement and electronic vehicle licensing.
	
		
			 Dept/Agency. Campaign 04/05 05/06 06/07 07/08 08/09 
			 DfT THINK! £8.75 million £11.57 million £7.42 million*   £1.78 million 11.67 million* 12.65 million* 
			  Transport Direct £240,000 £865,000 £405,000 £32,000*   £370,000 £629,000*   £42,000 
			  Act on C02 - - £2.49 million*   £1.1 million £3.56 million* £4.7 million* 
			  Airport Security - - - £1.01 million* - 
			 DVLA Sale of Marks £2.534 million £2.335 million £3.006 million £3.124 million £3.55 million 
			  VED Enforcement £5.961 million* £4.165 million* £5.596 million* £3.754 million* £3.791 million* 
			  Accelerated Issue of Harmonised Registration Certificate £1.424 million* £1.211 million* - - - 
			  Electronic Vehicle Licensing - - - £2.445 million* £2.415 million* 
			  Others £1.026 million* £677,000* £799,000* £676,000* £982,000* 
			 HA Introduction of Traffic Officer Service - £330,000 - - - 
			  Traffic Radio Print Advertising - - - £99,000 - 
			  Safety, Strategy and Research Advertising - - - £12,000 - 
			  Severe Weather Advertising - - - £40,000* £6,000 - 
			  Roadworker Safety Campaign - - - - £60,600 
			  Don't be that Guy campaign - - - - £67,000 
			  Pedestrian Intrusion Campaign - - - - £29,700* 
			  Dartford Crossing - - - - £74,600 
			  Summer Getaway - - - - £63,400 
			 GCDA Advertising car and dispatch services - £5,000 £500 - £2,800 
			 MCA Dial 999 for the Coastguard £9,100 £15,500 £9,900 £15,100 £117,700 
			 VCA N/A - - - - - 
			 VOSA N/A - - - - - 
			 DSA Passplus £32,000* £15,000* £148,000* £14,200* £6,500* 
			  Learning to Drive - - - £52,600* £349,300* 
			  Driver CPC - - - £4,500* £118,700* 
			  Enhanced Rider Scheme - - - £20,000* £51,300* 
			  Eco-Safe DSA - - - - £4,500* 
		
	
	*procured via The Central Office of Information.

Licensing: Live Music

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many competitors were prevented from performing at the Llangollen International Music Festival because they did not have a visa.

Lord West of Spithead: I cannot provide the information requested as the UK Border Agency does not keep a separate record of visa applications made in connection with any particular event in the UK. The UK Border Agency worked closely with the Llangollen festival organisers to ensure that those performers who required visas this year were aware of the application process and timelines to obtain their visas.

Ofsted: Learning and Skills

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much funding the Office for Standards in Education, Childrens Services and Skills (Ofsted) allocates to its Learning and Skills division; what proportion that is of Ofsteds total budget; and how many staff and inspectors that division employs.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: This is a matter for Ofsted. HM Chief Inspector, Christine Gilbert, has written to the noble Baroness and a copy of her reply has been placed in the House Libraries.

Parking Fines

Lord Lucas: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the closed circuit television system of Westminster City Council has been prohibited from use for civil parking enforcement.

Lord Adonis: The Civil Enforcement of Parking Contraventions (Approved Devices) (England) Order 2007 requires that CCTV equipment used by local traffic authorities for civil parking enforcement must be certified by the Secretary of State as an approved device. This ensures that the evidence recorded meets appropriate standards of integrity, security and reliability. Authorities in London had until 30 March 2009 to comply. Westminster City Council has not satisfied the Secretary of State that its equipment meets the requirements for certification.

Protests

Baroness Miller of Chilthorne Domer: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the remarks by Lord West of Spithead on 23 April (HL Deb, col. 1672), when he will write concerning the review of a Home Office document by a private company with commercial interests in the advice under consideration and the decision by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to give confidential police information regarding a protest to a private company with commercial interests in the matter.

Lord West of Spithead: The document referred to is a note that was produced by Home Officials in relation to targeted online advertising. The note was shared in draft with Phorm, one of the companies specialising in targeted online advertising systems, to ensure that the technical content was correct. The document and related correspondence have already been put into the public domain as a result of freedom of information requests. Contrary to media reports, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory reform did not pass confidential police information regarding a protest to a private company.

Shipping: MV Canna

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Maritime and Coastal Agency knew that the MV Canna, a ferry between Ballycastle and Rathlin, operated from 5 September 2008 to 11 September 2008 without a valid passenger certificate and with no insurance cover.

Lord Adonis: As in my answer of 29 June (Official Report, col. WA23) the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) became aware that the MV Canna was operating without a valid passenger certificate on 3 October 2008, while completing the annual survey. The MCA is not required to check insurance cover for this class of vessel.

UN Convention on the Rights of the Child

Baroness Walmsley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what consideration they have given to adopting a comprehensive plan of action for implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (a) in England, and (b) across the United Kingdom.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: The Government are fully committed to implementing the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).
	In England, the Children's Plan sets out how our long-term ambitions and policies for all children and young people are underpinned by the UNCRC. The Children's Plan: One Year On builds on this and sets out our priorities in taking forward the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child's concluding observations.
	The Government are planning to publish a UK-wide action plan by the end of the year, which sets out how the UK is responding to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child's concluding observations and how each of the devolved Administrations is responding to the concluding observations within the context of their own national requirements.

Regional Venture Capital Funds

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the UK Innovation Investment Fund and the Regional Venture Capital Funds have improved the flow of money to small, potentially fast-growing businesses.

Baroness Vadera: The UK Innovation Investment Fund, announced in June 2009, will be developed to provide an additional boost for high-growth, high-technology businesses struggling to raise equity finance, alongside existing national equity interventions. The Government have committed £150 million with the aim of attracting significant private sector investment into a fund of funds, to invest into underlying specialist technology venture capital funds including digital technologies, life sciences, clean technology and advanced manufacturing.
	Regional venture capital funds (RVCFs), launched in 2002, were designed to increase the amount of equity investment available to SMEs in amounts up to £500,000 to SMEs that demonstrate growth potential. From a total fund size worth £250 million, £133 million has been invested in 356 companies. This includes a government commitment of nearly £75 million which has been fully drawn down. The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is currently undertaking an interim assessment of the performance of the RVCFs. This is due to report in autumn 2009.

Regional Venture Capital Funds

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will make public information regarding the performance of Regional Venture Capital Funds.

Baroness Vadera: Regional venture capital funds (RVCFs), launched in 2002, were designed to increase the amount of equity investment available to SMEs in amounts up to £500,000 to SMEs that demonstrate growth potential. From a total fund size worth £250 million, £133 million has been invested in 356 companies. This includes a government commitment of nearly £75 million which has been fully drawn down.
	The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills is currently undertaking an interim assessment of the performance of the RVCFs. This is due to report in autumn 2009.

Afghanistan

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government what steps they will take to encourage other NATO members to increase their armed forces' commitments to Afghanistan.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: As my right honourable friend the Foreign Secretary stated in his speech to NATO on 27 July 2009, burden sharing is a founding principal of the NATO alliance, and needs to be honoured in practice as well as theory. We will continue to press other NATO allies to share more of the burden in Afghanistan, focusing on what they can realistically deliver, including military and non-military assets.

Afghanistan

Lord Swinfen: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many service personnel have been wounded in Afghanistan in the past year such that they will not be able to return to front line duty.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Casualty statistics for UK military and civilian personnel in Afghanistan are routinely updated each fortnight on the MoD website, which can be found at the following link:
	www.mod.uk/DefenceInternet/FactSheets/OperationsFactsheets/OperationsInAfghanistanBritishCasualties.htm
	The majority of Armed Forces personnel who are injured on operations subsequently recover and return to full fitness. In some cases that can take many weeks or months and because of our successes in treatment and rehabilitation, even in serious cases, it is not always possible to determine in advance whether their injuries will make them permanently unable to deploy.
	Even if designated not fully fit, many remain fit enough to work in some military capacity and therefore continue to make a contribution to operational effectiveness, often within theatres of operation.
	Wounded service personnel whose injuries affect their ability to perform their duties will generally be referred to a medical board for a medical examination and a review of their medical grading. In clear-cut cases where the individual's fitness falls below the service employment and retention standards, the board will recommend a medical discharge without further delay. In many cases, however, the patient will first be downgraded, to allow for treatment, recovery and rehabilitation. For personnel who do not make a full recovery, the board may recommend the patient is retained as permanently downgraded with limited duties or they may recommend a medical discharge.
	Although medical boards recommend medical discharges, they do not attribute the principal disability leading to the board either to service or to previous deployment. A medical board could take place months or even years after an event or injury and it is not clinically possible in some cases to link an earlier injury to a later problem which might lead to discharge.
	The Defence Analytical Services Agency (DASA) has compiled information on the numbers of service personnel previously identified as deployed in Afghanistan on Operation Herrick who were medically discharged during 2008 with musculoskeletal disorders and injuries given as the principal cause leading to discharge. Figures have been compiled using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems version 10 (ICD 10). The numbers of such personnel are follows:
	Naval Service (Royal Navy and Marines): 6;
	Army: 7;
	RAF: -.
	Numbers less than five have been suppressed (-) in line with Office for National Statistics guidelines.

Afghanistan

Lord Astor of Hever: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Bolton on 7 July (WA 121), what evidence there is that Iran provides arms and funding to the Taliban or other militia in Afghanistan.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: As stated on 7 July 2009 (Official Report, column WA 121), there is evidence that elements of the Iranian regime provide arms and funding to the Taliban and other illegal armed groups in Afghanistan. For reasons of operational security it would be inappropriate for me to comment on specific evidence.

Armed Forces: Chief of the General Staff

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost of providing (a) accommodation, and (b) chauffeur-driven cars, for the Chief of the General Staff in the last 12-month period for which figures are available.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Accommodation for the Chief of the General Staff in 2008-09 was leased at a cost of £108,408 per annum with £10,485 being expended for the associated contracted cleaning services. For the last known period, a dedicated staff car was leased, under the provisions of the United Kingdom White Fleet contract, for the Chief of the General Staff at a cost £4,993 per annum. With this vehicle was assigned a dedicated qualified driver at an indicative annual salary of £34,662 in 2008-09.

Armed Forces: Chief of the General Staff

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government on how many occasions and for what purposes the Chief of the General Staff travelled by helicopter in the United Kingdom in the last 12-month period for which figures are available.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Over the period 17 July 2008 to 16 July 2009 inclusive, the Chief of the General Staff undertook 40 separate helicopter flights within the United Kingdom over a combination of 20 journeys . All those journeys were for official purposes with seven being visits to units, four to attend/speak at conferences, four to attend meetings, three to attend/participate in official ceremonies, one a combination of conference and unit visit and the remaining one a combination of meeting and official representation. Additionally, on 5 and 6 June 2009, the Chief of the General Staff used a helicopter for the return journey to and from Normandy to attend the D-Day commemorations.

Armed Forces: Cultural Property

Lord Renfrew of Kaimsthorn: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will consider appointing staff to ensure the protection and conservation of ancient monuments and works of art in territories where British troops are operating.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: There are no plans to appoint specialist staff to protect ancient monuments and works of art in locations where British troops are operating. However, operations are always conducted with due regard to the obligations contained within the Hague Convention for the Protection of Cultural Property in the Event of Armed Conflict of 1954.

Armed Forces: Pensions and Compensation

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the role of the Central Advisory Committee on Pensions and Compensation and the War Pensions Committees in informing the Ministry of Defence of the needs and views of those who have served in the armed forces; and whether they will be continuing to operate in their current role and with their present terms of reference.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The Central Advisory Committee (CAC) on Pensions and Compensation underwent a review in 2008. As a result of the review the CAC was re-focused to deal with occupational service pensions as well as compensation policy issues, and developed to provide a credible and visible consultative mechanism. The CAC stopped dealing with issues of wider concern to veterans and ceased routine involvement in issues of scheme operation and delivery, where more appropriate mechanisms are in place. The membership of the CAC reflects the role of the committee and is representative of those affected by pension and compensation scheme issues.
	A review of the role, function and responsibilities of the War Pensions Committee (WPC) is currently under way, and at present the findings of the review are being collated.

Banking: Small Businesses

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will help small businesses not securing finance from their banks due to differing lending policies.

Baroness Vadera: This Government continue to act to ensure that viable small businesses are able to access the finance they need to assist them during the current economic downturn and to invest in the future. For example:
	the Chancellor's Lending Panel of the major banks and Ministers monitors the flow of lending and recommends action to increase lending where necessary; we have secured binding agreements to expand availability of credit with Lloyds Banking Group (£11 billion in net business lending) and Royal Bank of Scotland (£16 billion in net business lending) both over the 12 months from March 2009. In total, UK banks have made public lending commitments to increase lending by an additional £50 billion;we have brought together the banks and small business representative bodies at the Small Business Finance Forum chaired by Peter Mandelson. The forum, which meets regularly, monitors the overall availability, sector impact and price of lending. We have found this to be a very useful real-time feedback mechanism;we also launched the Enterprise Finance Guarantee (EFG) in January this year. Designed to lend to viable businesses at the margins of commercial lending, EFG continues to facilitate lending that would otherwise not be available. Latest figures show that over £706 million of eligible applications from 6,217 firms have been granted, or are being processed or assessed.

Cabinet Office

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many civil servants in the Cabinet Office are assigned to covering changes to the machinery of government.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The Prime Minister is supported in making decisions about the allocation of ministerial responsibilities by the Cabinet Secretary. The Cabinet Secretariat provide advice to the Cabinet Secretary on this issue. There is no set number of staff devoted to this issue and those involved have other duties in the Cabinet Secretariat.

Cabinet Office

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: To ask Her Majesty's Government what reports the Cabinet Office has prepared or commissioned into past changes to the machinery of government.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The Cabinet Office has not recently prepared or commissioned reports into machinery of government changes. A report was published in 2002 on the creation of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. A copy of this has been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.

Channel Islands: Food Supplements

Earl Howe: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the remarks by the Minister of State for Health, Phil Hope, on 5 May (HC Deb, col. 54WH), whether they have received (a) a timetable for the implementation of the Food Supplements Directive and Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation in Jersey, and (b) an update from the authorities in Guernsey regarding their intentions to implement that legislation.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what recent assessment they have made of the impact on (a) United Kingdom businesses, and (b) consumers, of the importation of health food products from the Channel Islands containing illegal ingredients or marketed using illegal claims.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government when officials from the Department of Health last met representatives of the health food industry to discuss the impact of the trade in health food products from the Channel Islands on (a) United Kingdom businesses, and (b) United Kingdom consumers; and whether they plan such a meeting in the future.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Food Standards Agency has been asked by the government of Jersey to provide an opinion on whether the definition of food businesses operator includes fulfilment businesses.

Baroness Thornton: Jersey has advised that its Health Protection Department continues to work on drafting instructions for law to implement the European Food Supplements Directive and Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation, although drafting time for this law has yet to be allocated in their legislative programme. A timetable for implementation of the legislation in Jersey has not been supplied.
	Guernsey has advised that the board of its Health and Social Services Department has directed officials in that department to investigate the effect of implementing the European Food Supplements Directive and Nutrition and Health Claims Regulation. This work has begun and is ongoing.
	The private nature of the mail order transactions involved in the personal importation of health food products from the Channel Islands means that it is not possible to collate the information necessary to assess the impact on United Kingdom businesses or consumers of products containing ingredients, or making health claims, which would be illegal in the UK. Health food products imported commercially from the Channel Islands into the UK must comply with relevant UK food law and non-compliance may result in enforcement action.
	No meetings have recently taken place between officials of the department and representatives of the health food industry to discuss the impact of the trade in health food products from the Channel Islands on United Kingdom businesses and consumers and there are no plans for such a meeting.
	In September 2008, an official of the Government of Jersey sought the view of the Food Standards Agency as to the status of businesses trading in foodstuffs which never physically fall into their possession. In its response, the Food Standards Agency advised that as the definition of food business in Regulation (EC) 178/2002 (General Food Law) refers to activities related to any stage of production, processing and distribution of food, this would not preclude businesses of the type mentioned from falling under the definition and, hence, being subject to relevant food law.

EU: Complementary Medicine

Lord Pearson of Rannoch: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the status of the European Union's herbal medicines and food supplements directives and other European Union legislation on complementary medicine.

Baroness Thornton: Directive 2001/83/EC, as amended by Directive 2004/24/EC, requires each European Union member state to establish a simplified registration scheme for traditional herbal medicinal products. The provisions of Directive 2004/24/EC were transposed into United Kingdom law principally through the Medicines (Traditional Herbal Medicinal Products for Human Use) Regulations 2005.
	Article 13 of Directive 2001/83/EC, as amended, also requires EU member states to set up a special simplified registration procedure for homeopathic products. Products registered under this long-standing scheme are not permitted to have specific therapeutic indications on their labels. Homeopathic medicinal products in the UK may also be authorised under Article 16, which permits a member state to introduce specific rules for pre-clinical and clinical trials of homeopathic medicinal products in accordance with the principles and characteristics of homeopathy as practised in that member state. Such products may be labelled with a range of strictly limited therapeutic indications. This scheme was introduced to the UK through the Medicines for Human Use (National Rules for Homoeopathic Products) Regulations 2006.
	The European Food Supplements Directive 2002/46/EC sets down requirements for food supplements marketed in the EU. The directive is implemented in England by the Food Supplements (England) Regulations 2003, as amended.
	A draft European Commission regulation, intended to effect amendments to the Food Supplements Directive to add vitamin and mineral substances to the list of those permitted for use in food supplements, received a favourable vote at the meeting of the general food law section of the Standing Committee on the Food Chain and Animal Health on 15 July 2009. The draft regulation will now be considered by the European Parliament and European Council.
	Work on setting maximum levels for vitamins and minerals in food supplements is ongoing at European level and the timing for finalising any proposals is uncertain.

Flu

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much money has been (a) spent to date on, and (b) committed to purchase, (1) drugs to combat swine flu, (2) related equipment, (3) new or extended systems for flu management, and (d) public health publicity in respect of the illness.

Baroness Thornton: The spend to date on drugs is over £500 million and additional committed spend on further drugs will take the amount to over £1 billion. We are not able to break down this number due to confidentiality clauses in our contracts with the various manufacturers.
	The costs of consumables and the National Pandemic Flu Service are also subject to confidentiality clauses.
	On publicity, the department has spent about £8 million to date and committed to purchase £2.4 million on public health publicity in respect of the illness.

Government Initiatives: Advertising

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government which initiatives of the Department of Health or its agencies have been advertised in each of the last five years; how much was spent in each case; and which were carried out via the Central Office of Information.

Baroness Thornton: The following table shows the department's advertising expenditure over the last five completed financial years. A further breakdown of these figures is available in the Library.
	All departmental advertising listed as follows was carried out via the Central Office of Information (COI), with the exception of those initiatives highlighted with an asterisk. To identify other ad hoc expenditure not carried out via the COI would incur disproportionate cost.
	Department of Health Advertising spend in £ millions1 2004-05 to 2008-09
	
		
			 Campaign 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-092 
			 Alcohol (from 2006-07 Department of Health contribution to campaign run jointly with Home Office) 0.00 0.00 0.56 0.61 4.77 
			 Antibiotics 0.00 0.38 0.00 0.39 1.15 
			 Change4Life 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 7.69 
			 Drugs (Department of Health contribution to campaign run jointly with Home Office) 0.91 0.18 1.34 0.67 1.45 
			 Flu (Immunisation) 1.45 1.83 1.11 0.98 1.42 
			 Hepatitis C 0.00 0.00 0.52 1.34 1.30 
			 HPV Vaccination 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 2.80 
			 Immunisation 0.00 0.00 1.66 0.00 0.32 
			 National Health Service including nurse recruitment 5.96 0.22 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 NHS Injury Benefits Scheme 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.40 0.00 
			 NHS Choices* 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.03 0.55 
			 Patient Choice* 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.53 
			 Respiratory and Hand Hygiene 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.32 1.53 
			 Sexual health/teenage pregnancy 1.40 0.00 2.88 3.11 2.83 
			 Social care/worker recruitment 1.80 2.42 2.31 2.22 2.03 
			 Smoking - Tobacco Control 20.05 20.80 13.17 10.79 23.38 
			 Stroke 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 4.52 
			 Tobacco Legislation 0.00 0.00 0.32 5.38 0.00 
			 Winter (Get the right treatment/ask about medicines day) 0.54 0.59 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 5 a Day 0.06 0.05 0.05 0.00 0.00 
			 E111/EHIC 0.24 1.00 0.00 0.00 0.16 
			 Department of Health outdoor campaign 0.32 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 
			 TOTALS (£ millions) 32.73 27.47 23.92 26.24 56.43 
		
	
	1 Advertising spend is defined as covering only media spend (inclusive of agency commissions but excluding production costs, COI commission and VAT). All figures are rounded to the nearest £10,000. These figures do not include departmental recruitment/classified advertising costs and ad hoc spend under £10,000. These figures may include occasional minor spend through COI by NHS organisations, to supplement national campaigns in their area. While this expenditure has been excluded as far as possible so that this chart reflects central departmental spend, it would incur disproportionate cost to validate that every item of NHS expenditure has been removed.
	2 Provisional figures.

Government Initiatives: Advertising

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government which initiatives of the Department for Work and Pensions or its agencies have been advertised in each of the last five years; how much was spent in each case; and which were carried out via the Central Office of Information.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: Given the wide range of advertising activity carried out by the department, it is not possible to provide a full list of initiatives covered. Activity ranges from national advertising campaignsfor example, pension credit, winter fuel payments, employability and benefit fraudto local activity, such as advertising in local directories and promoting jobs fairs.
	DWP's advertising spend is split by activity of the Central Office of Information (COI) and direct advertising through a wide range of media channels. All major campaign advertising is delivered via the COI. Advertising costs cover both campaign advertising and recruitment advertising.
	The total spend on advertising for the last five years is detailed in the following table:
	
		
			 £ million 2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 
			 COI 22.338 11.211 6.579 9.179 9.542 
			 Direct n/a * n/a* n/a* n/a* 2.785 
		
	
	Note: n/a* = data unavailable or not held centrally for these specific years and it would incur disproportionate cost in the gathering of these data.
	COI spend was across media, press, TV, radio, cinema and posters. COI spend excludes VAT, advertising rebates and audit adjustments and may differ from official COI turnover figures.
	Media figures exclude any production, miscellaneous costs, and COI fees.

Health: Botox

Lord Jopling: To ask Her Majesty's Government what monitoring exists of imports to the United Kingdom of the botulinum toxin and products containing it, such as Botox.

Baroness Thornton: The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency monitors the import of botulinum toxin where it is notified for import to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency as an unlicensed medicine for medical use, but not where it is imported as a cosmetic product for non-medical use.

Health: Commissioning

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 15 July (WA 232), what checks are in place to establish whether primary care trusts are commissioning services from providers who are best placed to deliver the needs for their patients and populations.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what arrangements they will put in place to ensure that contracts between primary care trust commissioners and their provider arms are adhering to the Government's policy of commissioning services from providers who are best placed to deliver the needs of their patients and populations.

Baroness Thornton: This is a matter for strategic health authorities (SHAs). SHAs are responsible for the performance management of primary care trusts (PCTs), providing regional oversight to ensure services best meet patient needs.
	The department is undertaking an assurance programme for SHAs, which will include their system management functions. This programme is expected to be rolled out in autumn 2009.
	Furthermore, the annual world-class-commissioning assurance system assesses the PCTs overall achievement on health outcomes, organisational competencies and governance. The assessment includes an evaluation of PCTs market management competence.

Health: Contaminated Blood Products

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 16 July (WA 2523), what were the different denominations contained in the representations by the Macfarlane Trust that demonstrated the average level of disbursement to the infected beneficiary community was £8,600 at 31 March 2009.

Baroness Thornton: I refer the noble Lord to the reply given by Lord Darzi of Denham on 16 July 2009Official Report, cols. WA252-53where it was explained the derivation of the departments calculations. It is not for the department to explain the trusts calculations.

Health: Generic Substitution of Medicines

Baroness Cumberlege: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they plan to conduct a public consultation on proposals for generic substitution of medicines; and for how long the consultation period will last.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what process they intend to use when undertaking a public consultation on proposals for generic substitution of medicines.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will work towards the introduction of proposed generic substitution of medicines, which is scheduled for January 2010; and what is the proposed timescale.

Baroness Thornton: Generic substitution is a complex issue with many interested stakeholders. We want to make sure we engage with all stakeholders in the best way possible and we therefore intend to formally consult in the autumn on our proposals for the implementation of generic substitution. We expect the consultation period will last 12 weeks and the timetable for implementation will be influenced by the outcome of this consultation.

Health: Race Equality

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what progress has been made by the 27 NHS organisations in the South East Coast Region which were found to be non-compliant with race equality legislation in the Race Equality Service Review, published in July 2008.

Baroness Thornton: Since the publication of the South East Coast Black and Ethnic Minority Network's findings on race equality within the National Health Service (NHS) in 2008, NHS South East Coast has taken active steps to effect improvements. Using a regional audit tool, South East Coast trusts have self-assessed their performance and, where appropriate, drafted action plans so that the necessary progress to compliance could be made. Following a further strategic health authority-led assurance process, NHS South East Coast now confirms that all trusts meet their baseline duties under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act and where appropriate trusts have set out action plans setting out how they will maintain their compliance.
	The NHS constitution affirms the NHS as a service for all. The newly formed NHS Equality and Diversity Council will strengthen the national focus on improving quality in the NHS. The department is running a number of programmes and initiatives to help NHS organisations to achieve compliance with equality legislation and to make step-change improvements for patients and staff from communities likely to experience discrimination and disadvantage.

Health: SHA Chairmen

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many one-on-one meetings chairmen of strategic health authorities had with Members of Parliament in their regions, by region, in the past year.

Baroness Thornton: The department does not routinely collect this information.

Health: Stress-related Illness

Lord Jones of Cheltenham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what action they have taken to assess and treat stress-related illnesses in (a) military personnel, and (b) other public servants.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Diagnosis and treatment of stress-related illnesses and other mental health disorders in members of the Armed Forces are performed by fully trained and accredited mental health personnel, and measures are in place to increase awareness at all levels and to mitigate the development of operational stresses. In Afghanistan, we deploy uniformed mental health nurses to provide in-theatre care and treatment for our personnel. If personnel need to leave the operational environment, then their care continues either on an out-patient or in-patient basis in the UK.
	In the UK, our mental health services for military personnel are configured to provide community-based mental health care, primarily through our 15 military Departments of Community Mental Health (DCMH) across the UK (plus satellite centres overseas), which provide out-patient mental healthcare. The DCMH mental health teams comprise psychiatrists, mental health nurses, clinical psychologists and mental health social workers. A wide range of psychiatric and psychological treatments are available (including psychological therapies, environmental adjustment and medication) where appropriate. The Ministry of Defence mental health services have particular expertise in treatments for psychological injury.
	For the relatively small number of military patients who need it, in-patient care is currently provided by a group of seven NHS trusts located throughout England and Scotland, led by South Staffordshire and Shropshire Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust (SSSFT) through a central MoD contract.
	The MoD is also committed to protecting the health, safety and well-being of its civilian employees and has a number of procedures in place to reduce stress at work based on the Health and Safety Executive's management standards. The MoD intranet web portal contains information on health promotion and includes specific advice to employees on how to reduce stress.
	Responsibility for identification of the factors leading to stress rests with business areas, and line managers are required to adapt the culture of their business to reduce stress levels. This includes maintaining a zero-tolerance approach to bullying and harassment.
	We provide guidance and training for managers and supervisory staff in good management practices, as well as specific training on managing stress and recognising stress in others, some of which is delivered by our own business training organisation.
	In cases of sick absence for a stress-related illness, MoD policy is to make an early referral to our occupational health providers.
	Confidential support is also available through the MoD occupational welfare service, for employees affected by stress caused by either work or external factors. This includes signposting to external agencies where appropriate.
	MoD civilians and other public servants seconded to MoD who deploy in support of operations overseas receive care in-theatre on the same basis as their military counterparts. Special arrangements are in place to provide psychological support to any civilian employee or secondee affected by post-traumatic stress following deployment on operations. This includes assessment and referral to a military DCMH if appropriate.

Health: Vaccines

Baroness Cumberlege: To ask Her Majesty's Government what involvement the vaccine industry will have in discussions with the NHS Chief Executive when reviewing incentives, including payment by results, to accelerate the uptake of medical technologies.

Baroness Thornton: The life sciences industry, which includes the pharmaceutical sector, was involved in the development of the Life Sciences Blueprint published on 14 July 2009. As a major stakeholder, the industry will continue to be involved in the implementation of the proposals in the blueprint.

NHS: Chief Executives

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government by strategic health authority, how many chief executives of NHS trusts (including primary care trusts and foundation trusts) left the employment of their trusts in (a) the latest full year for which information is available, and (b) the preceding two years.

Baroness Thornton: An estimate from the Electronic Staff Record Data Warehouse suggests that around 15 per cent of chief executives left their role in the 12 months ending 30 April 2009. The completeness of the data does not support a breakdown by strategic health authority; nor does an analysis for the two preceding years.

NHS: Debts

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 4 July (WA 206) listing 44 NHS trusts with historic debts, how many of those trusts they expect to have cleared those debts by (a) 31 March 2010, and (b) 31 March 2011; and what action they will take on the governance of those trusts which have not cleared their debt by 31 March 2011.

Baroness Thornton: Of the 44 National Health Service trusts showing a cumulative deficit in their 2008-09 financial accounts, at present seven are no longer expected to be in cumulative deficit by 31 March 2009-10 and a further 10 by 31 March 2010-11.
	Any NHS trust that is not planning to be out of a cumulative deficit position by the end of the 2011-12 financial year is expected to have a locally agreed recovery plan in place which details the steps being taken to recover its cumulative deficit position. The delivery against these recovery plans is managed at a local level by strategic health authorities, which are able to take action as necessary in order to ensure these plans are met.

NHS: Expenditure

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of NHS expenditure on hospital services was covered by the tariff in (a) 200809, and (b) each of the previous two years; and what plans they have to increase that proportion and by how much in 201011.

Baroness Thornton: The following table shows the percentage of primary care trust (PCT) expenditure on secondary healthcare covered by the payment by results national tariff between 2006-07 and 2008-09. There are no plans to increase this percentage in 2010-11.
	Percentage of PCT expenditure on secondary healthcare covered by the national tariff
	
		
			  Percentage 
			 2006-07 49% 
			 2007-08 47% 
			 2008-09 45% 
		
	
	Source:
	2006-07 and 2007-08 Payment by Results market forces factor (MFF) adjustment actual outturn exercise (Stage 4)
	2008-09 Payment by Results MFF adjustment draft accounts exercise (Stage 3)
	2006-07 and 2007-08 audited PCT summarisation schedules
	2008-09 unaudited PCT summarisation schedules

NHS: Finances

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majesty's Government in each of the past three financial years, how many (a) NHS hospital trusts, and (b) primary care trusts, have been required by the Government to re-order their finances because of their deficits.

Baroness Thornton: The number of National Health Service (NHS) trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) that ended each of the previous three financial years in deficit are shown in the following table.
	
		
			 Financial Year Number of NHS trusts reporting an operating deficit Number of PCTs reporting an operating deficit 
			 2006-07 40 42 
			 2007-08 7 4 
			 2008-091 6 1 
		
	
	Each of these organisations developed financial recovery plans locally with its strategic health authority (SHA), which were in turn agreed by the department. The department was not directly involved with the recovery plans of individual organisations.
	Notes:
	1 In addition, there were eight further NHS trusts reporting a deficit due to technical accounting reasons, relating either to the IFRS impact on impairment funding or phasing issue relating to a part-year foundation trust, and are not part of the organisations underlying operating position.

NHS: Targets

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government which hospital trusts in 200809 did not meet national targets for (a) accident and emergency four-hour maximum waiting times, (b) 18 weeks overall waiting time for treatment, and (c) methicillin resistant staphylococcus aureus; and which of those trusts did not meet any of those targets in 200708.

Baroness Thornton: Tables showing which hospital trusts in 2008-09 and 2007-08 did not meet the national standard for accident and emergency four-hour maximum waiting times have been placed in the Library.
	The 18 weeks maximum referral to treatment standards came into effect from 1 January 2009. Therefore, no acute hospital trust failed to achieve the standards prior to January 2009. Performance information on acute trusts that failed to achieve one or both of the admitted or non-admitted 18 weeks standards in January, February or March 2009 is shown in the document Trusts Failing to Meet 18 Weeks Standard in 2008-09 which has also been placed in the Library.
	In November 2004, the Government set the National Health Service (NHS) a national target of reducing Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) bloodstream infections by 50 per cent, over the 2003-04 quarterly average, by the end of March 2008. The NHS met this target on time and since then has continued to reduce levels of MRSA bloodstream infections. The latest quarterly figures (Q4, 2008-09) show that there has been a 64 per cent reduction in MRSA bloodstreams infections compared with the 2003-04 quarterly average.
	The 50 per cent target was set nationally, not at trust level, as the number of MRSA bloodstream infections in individual hospitals can be very small, even zero. In such cases, it would not be realistic to expect trusts to achieve a 50 per cent reduction.
	The 2009-10 operating framework recognised that some variation in performance on MRSA bloodstream infections exists across the NHS, and required those trusts with continuing high levels of preventable MRSA bloodstream infections to address this. The departments targeted support team continue to work with these trusts as required to achieve this.
	The Health Protection Agency publish data on MRSA bloodstream infections by trust on a quarterly basis on their website at:
	www.hpa.org.uk/webw/HPAweb&HPAwebStandard/HPAweb_C/1233906819629?p=1191942169773

NHS: Tariffs

Lord Warner: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have to introduce tariffs for community health services provided by primary care trusts.

Baroness Thornton: The department has no immediate plans to introduce a tariff for community health services provided by primary care trusts similar to the national tariff in place for acute services provided by hospital trusts. However, Lord Darzis report High Quality Care for All emphasised the importance of moving away from block contract funding for community services. The department is helping the National Health Service to establish local currencies (the units of healthcare for payment) and local prices. Further details are in Transforming Community Services: Currency and Pricing Options for Community Services, which has been placed in the Library and is available at ww.dh.gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH_093008
	The department is also exploring the potential for national currencies for child health promotion and end-of-life care.

NHS: Tariffs

Earl Howe: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will retain the national tariff and system of payment by results in any reforms of the National Health Service beyond the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

Baroness Thornton: It is anticipated that the payment by results national tariff will continue as a way of paying providers of care for National Health Service patients beyond the next Comprehensive Spending Review.

Older People: Care

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations the Prime Minister has received from Mr Ken Mack of Wrexham about the response of the Department of Health to his and parliamentarians' representations about care for vulnerable elderly people; what reply has been sent; and whether any action will be taken.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Correspondence between Ministers and members of the public is handled in confidence.

Quangos

Baroness Walmsley: To ask Her Majesty's Government what instructions have been given to chief executives of quangos regarding their communications with opposition parties in the run-up to a general election.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: In line with established convention, guidance will be issued by the Cabinet Office when a general election is called.

Armed Forces: Chief of the General Staff

Lord Foulkes of Cumnock: To ask Her Majesty's Government what representations the Ministry of Defence received for additional helicopters in Afghanistan from the Chief of the General Staff prior to June; and what were the responses.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Decisions on resources required by UK forces in Afghanistan are taken by the military command structure in theatre supported by the Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) in the United Kingdom. Ministers are kept both fully informed and briefed on all key operational decisions.

Channel Islands: Food Supplements

Earl Howe: To ask Her Majesty's Government in what circumstances the Office of Fair Trading would consider taking civil enforcement action against companies repeatedly distributing mail order catalogues containing illegal claims about health products.

Lord Davies of Abersoch: The Office of Fair Trading (OFT) selects cases to investigate in accordance with its prioritisation principles, having regard to issues such as the level of consumer harm and the wider effects of any action it may take. In considering whether to launch an investigation in the circumstances outlined, the OFT would also need to have specific regard to whether the claims being made are medicinal in nature and as such regulated by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, whether the alleged misconduct could be best dealt with by the Advertising Standards Authority or another compliance partner in the first instance, and whether the trader was based within the OFT's geographical jurisdiction.

Employment: Absence

Lord Taylor of Warwick: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they will close the gap between the rates of private and public sector employee absence, in the light of the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's annual absence management survey, which found that workplace absence costs the economy £17.3 billion.

Lord Myners: Employee absence is a matter for employers. However, the Government's Public Services Forum (PSF) has included tackling sickness absence in public services within its work programme.
	Whilst the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development's survey found that the average level of public sector employee absence is higher than in the private sector, it also explained that differences in workforce demographics are likely to account for some of this gap.

Framework for Excellence

Baroness Sharp of Guildford: To ask Her Majesty's Government what funding (a) the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, (b) the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, (c) the Department for Education and Skills, (d) the Learning and Skills Council, and (e) the Learning and Skills Improvement Service, have each spent on developing the Framework for Excellence in each year since 2006.

Lord Davies of Abersoch: All expenditure on the Framework for Excellence has been by the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) and the Learning and Skills Improvement Service (LSIS). Actual spending totals since 2006 are given in the table below.
	
		
			  Financial Years 
			  2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 2009-10 
			 LSC £3,223,446 £5,697,262 £9,678,385 £430,604 
			 LSIS Nil Nil £165,000 Nil 
			 Total £3,223,446 £5,697,262 £9,843,385 £430,604

Government Initiatives: Advertising

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government which initiatives of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills or its agencies (and their predecessors) have been advertised in each of the last five years; how much was spent in each case; and which were carried out via the Central Office of Information.

Lord Young of Norwood Green: Spending on advertising procured through the Central Office of Information by the former Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform in the last five years is as follows:
	
		
			 2008-09 Campaign Press Radio Poster Media Total 
			 Agency Workers Campaign 2008-09(first part of the Vulnerable Workers campaign) £341,212 £518,139 - £ 859,351 
			 Employing People 2008-09 £ 37,140 - - £ 37,140 
			 National Minimum Wage 2008-09 £ 30,260 £ 34,429 £114,133 £ 178,821 
			 Dispute Resolution 2008-09 £ 5,977 - - £ 5,977 
			 Trawlermen Compensation Scheme 2008-09 £ 3,317 - - £ 3,317 
			 Total 2008-09£1,084,606 
		
	
	
		
			 2007-08 Press Radio Poster Media Total 
			 Nuclear Energy Consultation 2007-08 £146,380 - - £146,380 
			 Employing People 2007-08 £ 71,446 - - £ 71,446 
			 National Minimum Wage 2007-08 £ 4,447 £ 392,297 £157,411 £554,155 
			 Total 2007-08£771,981 
		
	
	
		
			 2006-07 Press Radio Poster Media Total 
			 Consumer Direct  Thomson Directories 2006-07 £ 581,424 - - £581,424 
			 DTI Classified Recruitment 2006-07 £ 11,457 - - £ 11,457 
			 ACAS Miscellaneous Advertising Activity 2006-07 £ 82,641 £146,308 - £228,949 
			 Total 2006-07£821,830 
		
	
	
		
			 2005-06 Press Radio Poster Internet Media Total 
			 Consumer Direct 2005-06 £ 366,936 £823,011 £87,903 £170,000 £1,447,850 
			 DTI Classified/Recruitment Advertising 2005-06 £ 31,099 - - - £ 31,099 
			 SBS Business Link 2005-06 £1,502,301 - - - £1,502,301 
			 New National Minimum Wage 2005-06 £ 328,603 - - £ 41,000 £ 369,603 
			 Directgov - DTI Employee Franchise 2005-06 £ 117,690 - - £ 10,000 £ 127,690 
			 Total 2005-06 £3,478,543 
		
	
	
		
			 2004-05 Press Radio Poster Media Total 
			 Consumer Direct 2004-05 £170,600 - - £ 706,488 
			 SBS Business Link 2004-05 £552,712 - - £ 552,712 
			 Import Licence Announcements 2004-05 £ 74,300 - - £ 74,300 
			 DTI Classified Recruitment Advertising 2004-05 £ 41,007 - - £ 41,007 
			 New Minimum Wage 2004-05 £315,754 - - £ 315,754 
			 Renewable Energy 2004-05 £ 15,542 - - £ 15,542 
			 Queen's Award for Enterprise Promotion 2004-05 £ 30,494 - - £ 30,494 
			 Firework Safety 04-05 - (media only) £ 17,061 £152,527 £18,892 £ 188,480 
			 DTI - Dispute Resolution (media only) £ 81,768 - - £ 81,768 
			 SBS Press Media Buying Costs 2004-05  - - £ 3,255 
			 Total 2004-05£2,009,800 
		
	
	Spending on advertising procured through the Central Office of Information by the former Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills is as follows:
	
		
			 2008-09 Press Television Radio Media Total 
			 Higher Education Student Finance campaign 2008-09 £ 58,560 £1,224,996 £432,249 £1,715,805 
			 Science Innovation Press Campaign 2008-09 £149,577 - - £ 149,577 
			 Total 2008-09£1,865,382 
		
	
	
		
			 2007-08 Press Television Radio Media Total 
			 Higher Education Student Finance 2007-08 £229,751 1,198,017 £597,984 £2,025,702 
			 Total 2007-08£2,025,702 
		
	
	Details of any other expenditure on advertising are not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Government Initiatives: Advertising

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government which initiatives of HM Revenue and Customs or its agencies (and their predecessors) have been advertised in each of the last five years; how much was spent in each case; and which were carried out via the Central Office of Information.

Lord Myners: The table below sets out advertising expenditure for HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) (excluding the Valuation Office Agency (VOA)) by campaign and year. All campaigns were bought through Central Office of Information and are advertising only costs. All figures exclude VAT.
	
		
			 HMRC's advertising expenditure, 2005-06 to 2008-09 
			  2004-05 2005-06 2006-07 2007-08 2008-09 
			  Provisional 
			 Campaign £,000s £,000s £,000s £,000s £,000s 
			 Tax Credits 5494 3326 4552 3427 2964 
			 Child Trust Fund 2776 51 52 1864 1056 823 
			 Health in Pregnancy Grant 0 0 0 0 43 
			 Taxback 139 0 0 0 63 
			 Tobacco smuggling 84 556 92 259 0 
			 Self Assessment 5462 5945 3010 1929  
			 Corporation Tax & other taxes 0 395 1309  8078 
			 PAYE 263 162 392 22786  
			 VAT 19 1403 136 0 0 
			 Construction Industry 14 574 996 429 0 
			 Share Fishermen 138 0 33 8 0 
			 Fuel Fraud 338 0 0 0 0 
			 Tax Evasion/compliance 0 4359 1379 0 0 
			 UK Trade Info 32 0 0 0 0 
			 Online Services 0 298 0 0 0 
			 Frontiers 0 24 44 0 0 
			 Duty Stamps 0 153 767 0 0 
			 EU Enlargement 0 0 74 0 0 
			 Money Laundering 0 0 0 0 1 1 
			 Business Payments support 0 0 0 0 170 
			 Payments for parents 0 0 0 0 121 
			 Miscellaneous/other 87 38 6 63 31 
			 Total (£ million) 14.85 22.39 14.65 9.96 12.34 
		
	
	In 2004-05, the VOA spent £320,657.29 (excluding VAT) with the Central Office of Information on a public information campaign to support the launch of Summary Valuations. These were introduced for the 2005 revaluation for non-domestic rates to ensure greater transparency for the ratepayer. The VOA has spent no further money on advertising initiatives.

Government Initiatives: Advertising

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government which initiatives of the Department for Children, Schools and Families or its agencies (and their predecessors) have been advertised in each of the past five years, how much was spent in each case; and which were carried out via the Central Office of Information.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: Campaigns, including those using advertising, are funded from individual programme budgets held by policy directorates within the department.
	Advertising is always part of a wide and fully integrated publicity campaign. The Question refers specifically to advertising and we have been able to separate the department's spend on advertising, as all is centrally placed through the Central Office of Information.
	The department's advertising spend and that of its predecessor (DfES) since 2004 is set out below, with a breakdown of individual campaigns.
	
		
			 Campaign 2004/05 2005/06 2006/07 2007/08 2008/09 
			 Adult basic skills £5,876,432 £1,671,049 £1,934,912   
			 Teenage Pregnancy £1,086,677 £1,298,991 £1,674,906 £2,449,668 £1,686,695 
			 Every Child Matters Press and advertising  £2,074
			 Student Finance £1,223,870 £3,270,787 £3,068,536   
			 Sure Start £132,796 £2,645
			 Fast track teaching £72,595 £18,504
			 Foundation degrees £556,286 £868,963
			 DfES childcare £294,600 
			 Need to Know £400,000 £117,206
			 DfES Parents Centre £181,594 £149,462
			 Childcare recruitment  £660,523 £424,048   
			 Parenting pilot  £120,000
			 DfES Parenting Franchise (Directgov launch)  £517,843
			 DfES Education and learning launch campaign  £204,134
			 Children and young   £45,803   
			 people's workforce insert  
			 Parents direct pilot   £30,000   
			 Frank Campaign   £252,018 £635,930 £983,222 
			 Childcare£136,289  
			 City challenge£53,007  
			 Sponsored parenting phase 1£34,217  
			 Science Technology Education and Maths£338,258 £2,212,144 
			 Modern Languages£374,881 £1,768,258 
			 School Foods Trust£396,692  
			 Cyber Bullying  Digital Campaign£600,000  
			 Children's Plan launch£125,759  
			 National year of reading£88,423 £290,777 
			 Skills pledge£34,978  
			 Diplomas£3,771,787 £6,520,217 
			 Diploma Employer Engagement £823,693 
			 Diploma HE Engagement £39,598 
			 Diploma March Campaign £2,024,936 
			 Who do we think we are £2,446 
			 Summer holidays affordable childcare £203,697 
			 14-19 Reform Campaign £5,802,411 
			 Parent Know How £9,897 
			 Alcohol & Young People Campaign £1,520,458 
		
	
	The 2008-09 figures refer to costs invoiced to date and not actual DCSF spend.
	All figures exclude VAT, advertising rebates and audit adjustments and therefore may differ from official COI turnover figures. These figures exclude any production, miscellaneous costs and COI fee.

Government: Funding

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government which Government bodies in the last 12 months have received outside funding to carry out their statutory functions similar to the funding received by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: This information is not held centrally. A number of public bodies receive funding or income in addition to government grant or grant-in-aid. Details are provided in individual bodies' annual reports and accounts.

Health: Contaminated Blood Products

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 29 June (WA 14) saying "the department has contacted the Whips' Office about a further debate on the Government's response to the Archer report", on what date or dates there was any previous debate on the Government's response to the report since the Written Statement by Lord Darzi of Denham on 20 May (WS 12122) reporting their response to the House of Lords; who from the Department of Health contacted the Whips' Office; in what terms the approach was made; and whether "Whips' Office" means the Government Whips Office or all the whips' offices.

Lord Darzi of Denham: Since 20 May 2009, no debate has been held in the House of Lords on the Government's response to Lord Archer's independent inquiry into National Health Service (NHS) supplied contaminated blood and blood products. The reference to "further debate" in a previous reply (WA 14) was intended to relate to the most recent request for a debate on Lord Archer's report following the one secured on 23 April 2009, and the debates in the Lords on this issue during the Committee and Report stages of the Health Bill, as opposed to any debate specifically on the Government's response to Lord Archer's report.
	The department approached the Government Whips' Office by telephone to discuss a further debate in light of what was said in the Health Bill debate. It is for the Government Whips' Office to decide on the order of debates and other business in the House.

Health: Contaminated Blood Products

Lord Jones: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 29 June (WA 14) on the Government's response to the report of the Independent Public Inquiry on Contaminated NHS Blood Products made by Written Statement on 20 May (WS 1212), when after 20 May a debate was held on the response, as such a debate was implied by the words in the Written Answer stating that his department's contact with the Whips' Office was about "a further debate" on the Government's response.

Lord Darzi of Denham: Since 20 May 2009, no debate has been held in the House of Lords on the Government's response to Lord Archer's independent inquiry into National Health Service (NHS) supplied contaminated blood and blood products. The reference to "further debate" in a previous reply (WA 14) was intended to relate to the most recent request for a debate on Lord Archer's report following the one secured on 23 April 2009, and the debates in the Lords on this issue during the Committee and Report stages of the Health Bill, as opposed to any debate specifically on the Government's response to Lord Archer's report.
	The department approached the Government Whips' Office by telephone to discuss a further debate in light of what was said in the Health Bill debate. It is for the Government Whips' Office to decide in the order of debates and other business in the House.

Probation Service

Baroness Gibson of Market Rasen: To ask Her Majesty's Government what were the total caseloads of the Probation Service in England and Wales on (a) 31 December 1997, and (b) 31 December 2008.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the projected caseloads of the Probation Service in England and Wales on (a) 31 December 2009, and (b) 31 December 2010.

Lord Bach: The number of persons under Probation Service supervision in England and Wales as at 31 December 1997 and 2008 were 184,627 and 243,434 respectively.
	Revised methods for projecting community sentence and post-custody licence starts are being developed. Projections of probation workload are not currently available.
	These figures have been drawn from administrative IT systems, which, as with any large scale recording system, are subject to possible errors with data entry and processing.

Abortion

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of each document in file MH 55/2377 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill 1961: drafts and papers; later Parliamentary questions.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of each document in file MH 156/19 Medical Termination of Pregnancy Bill: correspondence with Home Office and other bodies.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of each document in file MH 55/1631 Abortion Bills 1952 and 1954.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of each document in file HO 291/1594 Abortion Bill introduced by Lord Silkin: consideration of policy.

Baroness Thornton: These files have been selected for retention at the National Archives. Information on how to view the files can be found at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Abortion

Baroness Masham of Ilton: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will place in the Library of the House a copy of each document in (a) file MH 156/16 Abortion Bill: correspondence with Home Office; (b) file MH 156/17 Abortion Bill: correspondence with Home Office; and (c) file 156/18 Abortion Bill: correspondence with Home Office.

Baroness Thornton: These files have been selected for retention at the National Archives. Information on how to view the files can be found at: www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Afghanistan: Fatalities

Lord Wright of Richmond: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Taylor of Bolton on 16 July (WA 245), what are the statistics, as at 13 July, of the fatalities suffered by the United Kingdom's allies and partners in Afghanistan.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: We do not comment on fatalities and casualties suffered by other nations, which are matters for the countries concerned.

Afghanistan: Interpreters

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many interpreters have been (a) killed, and (b) seriously wounded, while working with United Kingdom forces in Afghanistan.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Since 2007, 12 interpreters have been killed while working with United Kingdom forces in Afghanistan.
	Information on interpreters who have been seriously wounded while working with United Kingdom forces in Afghanistan is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Agriculture: Disinfectant Tests

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 4 June (WA 101), whether the rise in the charge for disinfectant tests for foot and mouth disease and swine vesicular disease reflects an anticipated increase in the number of those tests that will be required in 2009 and 2010; and whether any part of the rise represents an element of cost recovery from the outbreak at Pirbright laboratory in 2007.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 4 June (WA 101), whether, if the number of disinfectant tests for foot and mouth disease and swine vesicular disease in 2009 and 2010 does not reach the level estimated by the Veterinary Laboratories Agency and the Institute of Animal Health, the charge for the tests will be reduced.

Lord Tunnicliffe: Disinfectants testing carried out at the Institute for Animal Health for foot and mouth disease and swine vesicular disease must operate at full cost recovery. Each year estimates of costs are made using the average actual throughput from previous years in order to be able to work out the cost for individual tests. The disinfectants test charges do not contain any element of cost recovery from the outbreak at Pirbright laboratory in 2007.
	The costs of disinfectants testing operate on an economy of scale, so the costs could only be reduced in the future if there were more, not less, tests requested.

Air Quality

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government why they are seeking a time extension from the European Union for complying with European Union limiting values for particulate matter 10 and nitrogen dioxide in London.

Lord Tunnicliffe: EU air quality limits are already met across 99 per cent of the UK (land area). For the very small parts of the UK where limit values are not yet met, roadside locations in our most densely populated urban areas, including London, present the greatest challenge. Right across the EU, new vehicle engine standards have not delivered improvements as quickly as was anticipated. Furthermore, our understanding of the way in which emissions relate to measured concentrations of air pollutants has developed, showing that earlier projections for improvement were over estimated. For these, and other possible reasons which are currently being investigated, ambient air quality concentrations have not fallen in line with emission reductions.
	Therefore, the UK, like most other member states, is using the provisions under Directive 2008/50/EC on Ambient Air Quality and Cleaner Air for Europe to secure from the European Commission the additional time available to meet the limit values for particulate matter (PM10) and nitrogen dioxide (NO2). The additional time will enable current and planned measures to take effect. Subject to agreement by the European Commission, the directive permits an extension for PM10 to 2011, and for NO2 postponement of the attainment date to 2015.

Air Quality

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government which local authorities in Greater London are in breach of the requirement to declare an Air Quality Management Area for all places within their area where European Union limit values for any particulate matter, nitrogen dioxide or other named regulated air pollutants are not likely to be achieved.

Lord Tunnicliffe: Part IV of the Environment Act 1995 requires local authorities to review and assess the current, and likely future, air quality in their areas. Where a local authority considers that one or more of the air quality objectives, as prescribed in regulations, is unlikely to be met by the required date, it must declare an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) covering the area where the problem is expected. It must then draw up an action plan setting out the measures it intends to take in pursuit of the air quality objectives in the area.
	A list of those Greater London boroughs that have declared an AQMA, including details of the pollutants concerned, is shown below. A full list of UK AQMAs is available from the UK Air Quality Archive at www.airquality.co.uk.
	
		
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF BARKING &DAGENHAM Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 Nm (PM10) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF BARNET Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 Nm (PM10) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF BEXLEY Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 Nm (PM,o) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF BRENT Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 Nm (PM,o) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF BROMLEY Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF CAMDEN Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 dam (PM10) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF CROYDON Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF EALING Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PMJO) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF ENFIELD Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 {gym (PMJO) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF GREENWICH Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 lam (PMJO) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF HACKNEY Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PMJO) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF HAMMERSMITH AND FULHAM Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 lam (PMJO) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF HARINGEY Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 lam (PMJO) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF HARROW Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PMJO) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF HAVERING Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PMJO) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF HILLINGDON Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF HOUNSLOW Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF ISLINGTON Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 dam (PM10) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF LAMBETH Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF LEWISHAM Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PMJO) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF MERTON Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PM,o) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF NEWHAM Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PM10) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF REDBRIDGE Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PM,o) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF RICHMOND UPON THAMES Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PM,o) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF SOUTHWARK Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PM10) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF SUTTON Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PM,o) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF TOWER HAMLETS Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PM,o) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF WALTHAM FOREST Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PM,o) 
			 LONDON BOROUGH OF WANDSWORTH Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PM,o) 
			 CITY OF WESTMINSTER Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PM10) 
			 CORPORATION OF LONDON Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PM,o) 
			 ROYAL BOROUGH OF KENSINGTON AND CHELSEA Nitrogen dioxide (NO2), Particulate Matter <10 pm (PM,o)

Alternative Investment fund Managers

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have conducted an impact assessment on the implications for the British pensions industry and British pensioners of the European Commission's proposed Directive on Alternative Investment Fund Managers.

Lord Myners: The Financial Services Authority has commissioned research on the proposed directive from an external consultancy. Their aim is to quantify the impact, the implications for markets and investors, and the potential costs and benefits across the EU. This report should be published later this year.
	However, the actual costs will depend on the final legislation, which is likely to differ substantially from the Commission's draft. The Government will take into account this and other information on the potential impact of the directive in our negotiations.

Armed Forces: War Pensions

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many people over the age of retirement are in receipt of the Unemployability Supplement from the War Pension Scheme; and how many such people were in receipt of it on 31 March 2006.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: As at 30 June 2009 there were 4,400 disablement pensioners over retirement age (65 for men and 60 for women) receiving an ongoing war pension and unemployability supplement under the War Pension Scheme. Of these 3,825 were also receiving an ongoing war pension and unemployability supplement as at 31 March 2006. These figures are rounded to the nearest five.
	Table 1: Disablement Pensioners receiving an ongoing war pension and unemployability supplement as at 30 June 2009 and 31 March 2006 
	
		
			 Age Group In receipt 30/06/09 In receipt 31/03/06 and 30/06/09 
			 All 4,400 3,825 
			 60-64(1) 40 40 
			 65-69 840 935 
			 70-74 1,015 1,005 
			 75-79 895 725 
			 80-84 805 790 
			 85-89 650 310 
			 90 and over 155 25 
		
	
	(1) In line with the current National retirement age, females have been included from the age of 60, and males have been included from the age of 65

Armed Forces: War Pensions

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many arrears payments have been made by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency to war pensioners over the age of retirement in receipt of the Unemployability Supplement from the War Pension Scheme due to the differing rates of the Unemployability Supplement and the basic rate of the state pension between 8 April 2006 and 6 April 2008.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: There were no arrears of payment of Unemployability Supplement due or made by the Service Personnel and Veterans Agency as a result of this issue. The resultant arrears accrued in the state pension payment, falls within the responsibilities of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Banking: Asset Protection Scheme

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government which external lawyers have been used by HM Treasury to assist with the Asset Protection Scheme; and how much has been paid to each firm or is due to paid to each firm this year.

Lord Myners: The following external lawyers have been engaged to advise the Treasury on the Asset Protection Scheme this financial year: Slaughter and May. Fees will continue to be incurred until the work is completed, but the exact amount of these fees is not yet known. Fees will be recovered from the banks participating in the scheme.
	
		
			 Firm Fees paid 2009-10 to date 
			 Slaughter and May £1,149,036

Banking: Asset Protection Scheme

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government which external bankers have been used by HM Treasury to assist with the Asset Protection Scheme; and how much has been paid to each firm or is due to paid to each firm this year.

Lord Myners: The following external bankers have been engaged to advise the Treasury on the Asset Protection Scheme this financial year: Citigroup, Credit Suisse and Deutsche Bank. Fees will continue to be incurred until the work is completed, but the exact amount of these fees is not yet known. Fees will be recovered from the banks participating in the scheme.
	
		
			 Bank Fees paid 2009-10 to date 
			 Citigroup Nil 
			 Credit Suisse £414,084 
			 Deutsche Bank Nil

Banking: Asset Protection Scheme

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government which external consultants have been used by HM Treasury to assist with the Asset Protection Scheme; and how much has been paid to each firm or is due to paid to each firm this year.

Lord Myners: The following external consultants have been engaged to advise the Treasury on the Asset Protection Scheme this financial year: Ernst & Young, KPMG, PwC and Blackrock. Fees will continue to be incurred until the work is completed, but the exact amount of these fees is not yet known. Fees will be recovered from the banks participating in the scheme.
	
		
			 Consultant Fees paid to date 2009-10 
			 Blackrock £1,250,000 
			 Ernst & Young £2,278,745 
			 KPMG £6,073,907 
			 PwC £1,666,521

Banking: Asset Protection Scheme

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government how (a) Lloyds Banking Group, (b) the Royal Bank of Scotland, and (c) HM Treasury can withdraw from the Asset Protection Scheme; and what fines would have to be paid by either side as a result of cancelling involvement.

Lord Myners: The announcements made in February and March set out an in principle agreement with the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and the Lloyds Banking Group (Lloyds) with regard to their participation in the Asset Protection Scheme. These agreements were subject to further due diligence, further negotiation on the details of the scheme terms, and remain subject to state aid approval.
	HM Treasury will release further detailed information when this work has concluded and the agreements have been finalised.

Banking: Asset Protection Scheme

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majesty's Government under what conditions UK Financial Investments Ltd would allow (a) Lloyds Banking Group, and (b) the Royal Bank of Scotland, to withdraw from the Asset Protection Scheme.

Lord Myners: UK Financial Investments Ltd ("UKFI") was set up to manage the Government's investments in financial institutions as an active and engaged shareholder, operating on a commercial basis and at arm's length from Government. The detailed terms of the Asset Protection Scheme remain under discussion with the participant banks, but these will be agreed between the participant banks and HM Treasury directly, not through UKFI. UKFI's decisions are taken in line with the relevant framework agreement which is available on their website (www.ukfi.gov.uk).

Commission for Racial Equality

Lord Dholakia: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many former staff of the Commission for Racial Equality received redundancy payments; and how many of those were subsequently employed by the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: 72 Commission for Racial Equality (CRE) staff received redundancy payments via the Principal Civil Service Pension Scheme. The CRE may have made direct payments to staff over retirement age. The Equality and Human Rights Commission subsequently re-engaged seven former employees of the CRE on short term consultancy contracts. More information about the re-engaged staff can be found in the EHRC Annual Report and Accounts 2006-08.

Defence Procurement

Lord Astor of Hever: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will publish the report on defence procurement by Mr Bernard Grey.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: We will publish the review of defence acquisition in the autumn.

Department of Health: Consultants

Baroness Barker: To ask Her Majesty's Government what payments were made to McKinsey and Company for their report on efficiency saving in the National Health Service.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what level of assistance the Department of Health provided McKinsey and Company during the preparation of their report on efficiency savings in the National Health Service.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government who decided to invite McKinsey and Company to prepare a report into efficiency savings in the National Health Service; what meetings were held with McKinsey and Company to discuss the matter; when such meetings took place; and who attended those meetings.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government why they invited McKinsey and Company to prepare a report on the National Health Service; and whether any assessment was made of the ability of the Department of Health to prepare such a report itself.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government when McKinsey and Company submitted their report to the Department of Health; to whom it was submitted; whether any presentations or meetings were held to discuss the report; and, if so, who attended them.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government whether staff in the Department of Health and the National Health Service were instructed to co-operate with McKinsey and Company in the preparation of their report into efficiency savings in the NHS; and, if so, what records were kept of the number of meetings held, and the time taken in such meetings.

Baroness Thornton: In February 2009, McKinsey was instructed by the Director-General for Commissioning and System Management to provide advice on how commissioners might achieve world-class National Health Service productivity to inform the second year of the world class commissioning assurance system and future commissioner development. McKinsey is providing extra capacity to support the department and the NHS to put in place the skills and resources to embed the national assurance system locally.
	McKinsey representatives had attended a meeting of the Commissioning and System Management Executive Group in February 2009 where they presented on efficiency. This was prior to the advice being commissioned. The group was attended by departmental officials and representatives from strategic health authorities.
	No meetings were held with McKinsey to discuss this work following its commission and no instructions to do so were issued to department officials or the NHS. McKinsey submitted its report by email on 18 March to the Director-General for Commissioning and System Management. The paper was subsequently shared with the NHS Management Board in May mainly as background information to inform the board's discussions.
	The department considers that the information requested on cost is exempt from disclosure under Section 43 of the Freedom of Information Act. The information is commercially sensitive and would, or would be likely to, prejudice the commercial interests of both the department and consultancy firms in future negotiations for consultancy support.

Equality and Human Rights Commission

Lord Ouseley: To ask Her Majesty's Government how they intend to replace the skills and expertise lost from the Equality and Human Rights Commission following the recent resignations of several commissioners.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) is entering a new phase, focusing on its role as equality enforcer and delivering the Equality Bill.
	The board is being restructured, with the number of commissioners reduced from 16 to 11 with more emphasis on financial management. Commissioner posts will be widely advertised to encourage the widest range of possible candidates. New appointments at key managerial posts are also being advertised, including chief executive officer.
	It is right that we take a fresh look at the structure of the board so the EHRC is capable of delivering important work including guidance on the Equality Bill, gender pay reports and the inquiry into the financial services sector.

EU: Taxpayers Data

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to use their veto against any proposal from the European Commission to give all 27 member states direct access to United Kingdom taxpayers' data.

Lord Myners: In response to the threat of cross-border VAT fraud, the European Commission and member states have been evaluating measures to improve administrative co-operation and speed up the exchange of information, including one to allow tax authorities direct access to a defined and limited amount of VAT data which tax authorities already exchange following a formal exchange of information request. As the proposal has only just been published and as much will depend upon how it progresses during negotiations with other member states, it is too early to say whether the final form of the proposal will be acceptable to the UK.

Government Initiatives: Advertising

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Darzi of Denham on 29 June (WA 14), whether, there having been no debate in the House of Lords on the Department of Health's response to the report of the Independent Public Inquiry on Contaminated NHS Blood Products headed by Lord Archer of Sandwell, they will correct the statement in the Answer that the Department had approached the Whips' Office about "a further debate" on the Government's response to the Archer report; and in what terms the approach was made.

Baroness Thornton: I refer the noble Lord to Lord Darzi's reply to him on 21 July. The term further debate referred to debates and requests for debates, about Lord Archer's report in general. It was put on record in that reply that no debate has been held in the Lords on this issue since the Government's response on 20 May 2009.

Government Initiatives: Advertising

Lord Newby: To ask Her Majesty's Government which initiatives by the former Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and its agencies were advertised in each of the last five years; how much was spent on each; and which used the services of the Central Office of Information.

Lord Young of Norwood Green: Spending on advertising procured through the Central Office of Information by the former Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills is as follows:
	
		
			 2008/09 Press Television Radio Media 
			 Higher Education Student Finance campaign 2008/09 £ 58,560 £1,224,996 £432,249 £1,715,805 
			 Science Innovation Press Campaign 2008/09 £149,577 - - £ 149,577 
			 Total 2008/09£1,865,382 
		
	
	
		
			 2007/08 Press Television Radio Media Total 
			 Higher Education Student Finance 2007/08 £229,751 1,198,017 £597,984 £2,025,702 
			 Total 2007/08£2,025,702 
		
	
	Details of any other expenditure on advertising are not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Groundwater (England and Wales) Regulations 2009

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government with reference to regulation 12(3) of the draft Groundwater (England and Wales) Regulations 2009, whether permits granted before the draft Regulations come into force comply with regulations 8 and 9; and, if not, whether the Environment Agency may amend an existing permit if its conditions are being met.

Lord Tunnicliffe: Authorisations granted under the Groundwater Regulations 1998 will become valid permits for the purpose of the Groundwater Regulations 2009 when those regulations come into force. Such permits will be subject to review under Regulation 12 of the proposed groundwater regulations to ensure that there is compliance with conditions of the permits. Whether the permit conditions are being met or not, such permits could be amended where it is appropriate to do so, for example, to take account of the requirements of the water framework directive.

Groundwater (England and Wales) Regulations 2009

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government with reference to regulation 17(2) of the draft Groundwater (England and Wales) Regulations 2009, whether the cost of acquiring information that does not normally come into the possession of the person concerned will be met by the Environment Agency.

Lord Tunnicliffe: Regulation 17(2) of the draft groundwater regulations mirrors the existing provision at regulation 60(3) of the Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007. It is therefore consistent with both existing legislation and the proposed Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) Regulations 2010. As with other authorisations, it is for an applicant to provide the requisite information and the cost would not be met by the Environment Agency. A notice served under regulation 17(2) may require any information to be provided where that requirement is reasonable.

Groundwater Regulations (England and Wales) 2009

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many permits covered by the draft Groundwater (England and Wales) Regulations 2009 are outstanding in each region in England and Wales.

Lord Tunnicliffe: The following classes of permits are subject to the existing (1998) Groundwater Regulations and will become valid permits for the purposes of the Groundwater Regulations 2009 when they come into force:
	1) Consents to discharge to groundwater under the Water Resources Act 1991.2) Permits under Environmental Permitting Regulations 2007 where these may result in inputs to groundwater.3) Groundwater authorisations under the Groundwater Regulations 1998.
	There are upwards of 20,000 such permits in total. The number of new applications and variations to such permits will fluctuate daily as they are submitted and processed according to statutory procedures. There is currently no significant backlog of applications. To provide an analysis of each outstanding permit broken down by region would require detailed searches of Environment Agency permitting databases which would incur disproportionate cost.

Gulf War Illnesses

Lord Morris of Manchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the answer by Lord Tunnicliffe on 27 April (HL Deb, cols 810) and the Written Answers by Baroness Taylor of Bolton on 18 June (WA 226) and 21 July (WA 33637), whether they still believe that the United States Institute of Medicine (IoM) has been undertaking a review for the US Department of Veterans Affairs of the report of the Congressionally-mandated and funded US Research Advisory Committee (RAC) on Gulf War Illnesses and that the IoM will publish its findings on the report in February 2010; and when they will be addressing the implications of the RAC's report for British veterans of the 199091 Gulf War.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: I have nothing further to add to the answer I gave my noble Friend on 21 July, (Official Report, cols WA 336-337).

Health: Dentistry

Lord King of West Bromwich: To ask Her Majestys Government how many dental appointments were missed by patients in each of the last five years; what is the estimated cost of them to the National Health Service in each of those years; and what steps they are taking to reduce the number of missed appointments.

Baroness Thornton: Information is not collected centrally on numbers of missed National Health Service (NHS) dental appointments. When the new contractual arrangements were introduced in 2006, NHS Primary Care Commissioning published guidance on how dental practices can apply good practice in managing appointments so as to minimise the number of patients failing to attend.
	More recent guidance has been aimed at patients to ensure they understand the importance of keeping their dental appointments and following clinical advice to maintain their oral health. Guide to NHS dental services in England has been placed in the Library and is also available on the departments website at www.dh. gov.uk/en/Publicationsandstatistics/Publications/PublicationsPolicyAndGuidance/DH096614. This contains a section on patients responsibilities.

Health: Prescriptions

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majestys Government why strategic health authorities differentiate between the funding of drug prescriptions in prisons and the funding of prescriptions in primary care trusts.

Baroness Thornton: Strategic health authorities do not differentiate between the funding of drug prescriptions in prisons and primary care trusts (PCTs). PCTs have been responsible for the funding of healthcare services provided in prison, including the cost of any medication, since April 2006.

Health: Prisons

Lord Mawhinney: To ask Her Majestys Government why strategic health authorities allocate less funding per capita for prison medical facilities than NHS trusts.

Baroness Thornton: Responsibility for maintaining prison healthcare facilities, including any new capital development, remains the responsibility of the Ministry of Justice (National Offender Management Service) following the completion of the transfer of commissioning responsibility for prison healthcare services to the National Healthcare Service in 2006. Non-fixed equipment (freestanding furniture and specialist medical equipment for example) is the responsibility of the local NHS primary care trusts (PCTs) in terms of maintenance, replacement and purchase of new items.
	Details are set out in The National Partnership Agreement between the Department of Health and the Ministry of Justice (was Home Office) for the accountability and commissioning of health services for prisoners in public sector prisons in England, as updated in January 2007. A copy is available in the Library.
	The department allocates funding to PCTs via strategic health authorities on the basis of the relative needs of their populations.

Health: Vaccines

Baroness Cumberlege: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans there are to include vaccines in the "Innovation Pass" programme announced by the Office for Life Sciences.

Baroness Thornton: The Life Sciences Blueprint, published by the Office for Life Sciences on 14 July 2009, announced that the Government with the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) will introduce an innovation pass. Strict criteria will be developed to determine which innovative technologies qualify for the innovation pass. NICE will have a key role in developing and applying eligibility criteria for the pass. The pass will be piloted with a budget of £25 million in 2010-11. The pilot will be developed with input from industry, NICE and the National Health Service and will be the subject of consultation by November 2009.
	The blueprint is available at: www.dius.gov.uk/ols

HMRC: High Net Worth Unit

Lord Newby: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether HM Revenue and Customs' High Net Worth Unit will look at individuals who are (a) non-domiciled, and (b) non-resident for tax purposes.

Lord Myners: HM Revenue and Customs High Net Worth Unit has been set up to deal specifically with the tax affairs of the UK's wealthiest individual taxpayers. Some of these individuals will be UK resident with non-domicile status, others will be non-residents who may have UK tax liabilities.

HMRC: High Net Worth Unit

Lord Newby: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many customer relationship managers are employed within HM Revenue and Customs' High Net Worth Unit; and what the forecast rise in tax receipts is as a result of the establishment of the Unit.

Lord Myners: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) set up a High Net Worth Unit in April 2009. Currently it has 28 customer relationship teams each with a manager. They will deal specifically with the tax affairs of the UK's wealthiest individual taxpayers. The unit's aim is to take an overall view of the tax affairs of these wealthy individuals and improve understanding of them. This will enable HMRC to communicate more effectively with them, influence their behaviours and provide a more robust evidence base for policy decisions and assessment of their liabilities. At this stage it is too early to accurately forecast the impact on tax receipts of the establishment of the unit.

HMRC: High Net Worth Unit

Lord Newby: To ask Her Majesty's Government what criteria were used by HM Revenue and Customs to identify individuals who would be covered by the High Net Worth Unit.

Lord Myners: HM Revenue and Customs High Net Worth Unit will deal with the UK's wealthiest individual taxpayers. The measure of wealth includes assets such as business interests, shareholdings and other investments and properties.

IPP Sentences

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the average number of days that prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection with a tariff of two years or less are serving over their tariff.

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated number of indeterminate sentences for public protection that will be given in each of the calendar years 2009 to 2012.

Lord Bach: Indeterminate imprisonment or detention sentences for public protection (IPP) were introduced in the Criminal Justice Act 2003. The Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008 introduced a number of changes to this sentence, including giving the courts a wider discretion in their use and providing for a minimum tariff of two years below which IPPs cannot be given, except where offenders have committed extremely serious crimes in the past. These changes will ensure that these sentences are better targeted on the most dangerous offenders.
	IPPs (including the changes introduced in 2008) are modelled as part of the published prison population projections (published on the Ministry of Justice website, copies are in the House Libraries).
	The modelling uses assumptions based on available data and the expert views of stakeholders. The most recent projections use the assumption that there will on average be 45 IPP prisoner receptions per month after the changes introduced by the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act.

IPP Sentences

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection are expected to be over tariff in each of the calendar years 2009 to 2012.

Lord Bach: As of 9 September 2009, 162 prisoners serving an indeterminate sentence for public protection were recorded as having a tariff of two years or less. This figure excludes those who have been released and who were subsequently recalled following the revocation of their licences. The average amount of time this group has been held in prison beyond the expiry of their tariff is 244 days.
	The Ministry of Justice publishes projections of the future prison population. IPPs are modelled as part of the latest projections (published on the Ministry of Justice website, copies are in the House Libraries). The population of prisoners serving IPPs who are past their tariff is not separately modelled as part of the published prison population projections.
	It is difficult to model the IPP population with great accuracy because of the recent changes made to the sentence in the Criminal Justice and Immigration Act 2008. The population is estimated to rise to around 5,400 by around 2011 and to stay more or less level after that. However, small changes to the rates of receptions for such long sentences as IPPs have large impacts on the prison population, although the impacts will not be felt for many years.

Iraq: Chilcot Inquiry

Lord Lester of Herne Hill: To ask Her Majesty's Government what are the estimated costs of the Chilcot Inquiry into Iraq; and what is the basis of calculation of the costs.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: It is too soon to know the full costs of the Iraq inquiry, though we anticipate that these will be comparable with previous similar inquiries. The final costs will be published in due course.

Met Office: Bonuses

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they propose to pay bonuses to staff at the Met Office this year; and, if so, on what basis.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Met Office staff will be eligible to receive bonuses based on performance against specific targets agreed and monitored by the Met Office board, which are linked to the success of the Met Office at either individual, team or organisational level. Bonus payments are non-consolidated and represent part of Met Office staff remuneration which is at risk and needs to be re-earned each year.

NHS: Staff

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether NHS patients have the right to know whether doctors and nurses working for the National Health Service are in favour of (a) abortion, and (b) assisted suicide.

Baroness Thornton: National Health Service patients do not have the right to know healthcare professionals' personal views on abortion and assisted suicide. However, healthcare professionals have to follow their professional bodies' standards on competence, ethics and conduct. In addition, the department's guidance Religion or belief: a practical guide for the NHS (2009) states that it is vital to ensure that the personal beliefs of healthcare staff do not adversely affect the care, or be allowed to influence any advice, given to patients. A copy of this guidance has been placed in the Library.

Northern Ireland: Human Rights Commission

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majestys Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 7 July (WA 143-4), whether they will ensure that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission follows the Equality Commission for Northern Irelands requirements and makes a determination of community background using the residuary method for the Commissioner who did not declare their community background.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Baroness Royall of Blaisdon on 7 July (WA 1434), how they can ensure that the membership of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is representative of the community, as required by the Northern Ireland Act 1998, if they do not ascertain the community background of all its members.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: Whilst the community background of members of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is monitored, statutory monitoring requirements under the terms of the Fair Employment and Treatment (Northern Ireland) Order 1998 do not apply to appointments such as these.
	How individuals see their own community background is a matter for themselves. Ensuring that the membership of the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission is representative of the community is the responsibility of the Secretary of State.

Northern Ireland: Sectarian Attacks

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many sectarian and other attacks upon people and property in the Fountain area of Londonderry have been reported to the Police Service of Northern Ireland in the last 12 months; and what extra security measures have been put in place.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: As this is an operational matter for the Chief Constable, I have asked him to reply directly to the noble Lord, and will arrange for a copy of the letter to be placed in the Library of the House.

Operation Ocean Shield

Lord Chidgey: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the effectiveness of Operation Ocean Shield, in terms of assisting states to combat piracy and in contributing to lasting maritime security off the Horn of Africa.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: NATO's Operation OCEAN SHIELD stood up in August 2009 under UK Command; NATO will conduct a full operational assessment at the end of the year. To date the NATO group has undertaken local engagement in support of its wider aim of building regional capacity for the prevention of piracy. It has also integrated fully with both the EU and CMF counter-piracy operations.

Parole Board

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated increase in Parole Board resources required to ensure that all prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection have hearings at the appropriate times; and what is the estimated annual cost of providing that increase.

Lord Bach: The Government accept that it is important for all prisoners to have parole hearings at an acceptable time and as such is working with the Parole Board to increase the resources available to them. The boards budget has been increased by 18 per cent for 2009-10, and a recently concluded recruitment campaign has seen 35 new members appointed to the board. A new parole process was set up on 1 April, which includes robust performance monitoring for all agencies contributing to the parole process; each agency involved in the process is committed to making the process work more effectively and to using appropriate levers to improve performance. The Parole Board rules have also been amended to allow the board greater flexibility in its use of its membership resources to deliver hearings, and the chair of the board is working with the management team to identify ways in which procedures can be made more efficient and hearing times more productive. The additional net cost of these measures is estimated at £2.5 million.
	The Government also published a consultation paper The future of the Parole Board on 20 July seeking the views of all those involved in the parole process as to how best the board should be managed to ensure its independence from the Executive and to enable it to operate in as effective and efficient way as possible. Consultation closes on 20 November.

Prisoners: Indeterminate Sentences

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated annual cost of providing all prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection with additional rehabilitation resources.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated increase in prison resources needed to ensure that all prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection receive the resources required to prepare for and take part in parole hearings, including the compilation of parole dossiers, escorts to attend meetings or telephone conferences with Offender Managers and Parole Boards, and the administration of rehabilitation courses.

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated cost of holding in custody those prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection who are currently over tariff.

Lord Bach: As of 8 September 2009, there were 1957 prisoners serving indeterminate sentences of imprisonment for public protection recorded as being beyond the expiry of their tariff.
	The most recent calculation of the average cost per year of prison places was in respect of the year 2007-08 and was £39,000 per prisoner per annum. However, the actual cost of each prisoner will vary considerably. To give an accurate estimate of the cost of detaining this specific group of prisoners post-tariff would require a manual examination of each case and as such, would incur disproportionate cost.
	Data on the number of prisoners held in prison beyond the expiry of their tariff is held on the Public Protection Unit Database (PPUD) within the National Offender Management Service. As with any large scale recording system, it is subject to possible errors arising from either data entry or processing.
	The tariff is the minimum period specified by the court to be served by the prisoner for the purposes of punishment and deterrence. Whether a prisoner serving an IPP sentence is suitable for release once his tariff has expired will depend on whether the independent Parole Board judges that the risk of harm which he presents may be safely managed in the community.
	In 2007/08, 2008/09 and 2009/10, the National Offender Management Service allocated an additional £3 million to improve the completion of assessments and access to interventions for IPP prisoners.

Prisoners: Indeterminate Sentences

Lord Ramsbotham: To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the estimated increase in prison resources needed to ensure that all prisoners serving indeterminate sentences for public protection have access to the courses promoting their rehabilitation recommended in their sentence plan.

Lord Bach: Funding for rehabilitative work is part of establishment baselines and cannot be readily disaggregated. Estimates of additional costs and resources could therefore currently only be obtained at disproportionate cost by analysing the files of all prisoners serving indeterminate sentences, assessing and then costing what rehabilitative work was already in place and what further provision if any may be required. Similarly the costs in preparing for parole hearings and any administration cost for courses are included within prison baseline budgets.
	An additional £3 million allocation was made in 2007-08, 2008-09 and 2009-10 to establishments to support work with this group of prisoners, with a view to ensuring that assessments are made on time and to improving access to interventions.
	A new streamlined process for assessing and managing Indeterminate Sentence for Public Protection prisoners (IPPs) through the implementation of offender management for IPPs has been introduced, along with revised categorisation and allocation procedures for adult male IPPs. This has facilitated quicker progression to the training estate as well as access to the range of interventions available in training establishments. Action has also been taken to prioritise indeterminate sentence prisoners particularly those with short tariffs. Moving these offenders away from the previous lifer processes has also led to improvements in sentence planning.
	Improved arrangements for the management of offenders generally have also been introduced from 1 April 2009. The responsibility for the commissioning of services including offending behaviour programmes now rests with directors of offender management in each region. It is for them to commission services that meet the needs of offenders and the requirements of sentencers in their area.
	An extensive programme of further work is underway within the National Offender Management Service (NOMS) to support the commissioning of services to better meet the needs of offenders and maximise resources including:
	an assessment of the needs of indeterminate sentence prisoners;a specifications, benchmarking and costings exercise which will provide information on the cost of interventions delivered and help to utilise resources more effectively;a review of programmes delivered across prisons.
	NOMS has put systems and procedures in place to facilitate indeterminate sentence for public protection prisoners appropriate progression through the prison system, and will continue to monitor outcomes to ensure further improvements in this area.
	The benefits of moving prisoners through the system are fully recognised.

Railways: August Bank Holiday

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the performance of those involved in the railway planning process, in the light of the travel disruption over the August bank holiday.

Lord Adonis: There has been no specific assessment. However, the Government have asked the industry to propose improvements in the process for planning rail engineering work to ensure that the interests of rail users are taken into full account and, in particular, to reduce the substitution of buses for rail passenger services during such work.

Railways: Diesel Vehicles

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Adonis on 29 June (WA 22), when the procurement process for 202 new diesel train carriages will be advanced sufficiently for an order to be placed.

Lord Adonis: On 23 July the Government announced a major £1.1 billion programme of rail electrification on the Great Western Main Line and the line between Liverpool and Manchester. This radically affects the requirements for rolling stock over the next decade.
	There will be far less need for diesel trains and a greater requirement for electric trains, as a result of which the procurement of 202 new diesel train carriages has now been superseded. The Government will publish a. new rolling stock plan in the autumn, taking account of the changed circumstances.

Railways: Safety

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they have considered an alternative to the ALARP (As Low As Reasonably Priced) system for assessing the costs of railway safety enhancements.

Lord Adonis: The Office of Rail Regulation as the independent safety and economic regulator of UK railways, completed a review and issued revised internal guidance on the use of cost benefit analysis in support of decisions to reduce risks so far as is reasonably practicable on Britain's railways in March 2008, which included a consultation with stakeholders.
	The Office of Rail Regulation review concluded that the costs of railway safety enhancements should include the costs of financing to reflect the public or private sector cost of capital, depending on the funder of the scheme. This guidance and supporting consultation documents are available from the Office of Rail Regulation's website - see:
	http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/nav.1118.

Roads: A303

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Adonis on 21 July (WA 365), whether the A303 Wincanton bypass has been resurfaced with "low noise" surfacing; and, if not, whether it is intended that it will be.

Lord Adonis: The A303 Wincanton bypass has not been resurfaced with "low noise" surfacing. It was last resurfaced prior to 1998 using hot rolled asphalt. The bypass will be resurfaced with "low noise" surfacing materials when maintenance of the existing surface is due. As the surface remains in good condition, the A303 Wincanton bypass is not currently within a programme for maintenance resurfacing.

Royal Household: Expenditure

Lord Oakeshott of Seagrove Bay: To ask Her Majestys Government how much expenditure by Prince William and Prince Harry on official business, broken down by category, was deducted from the Prince of Waless taxable income in each of the last three years for which figures are available.

Lord Myners: The tax affairs of members of the Royal Family are confidential in the same way as those of other taxpayers.

Shipping: Light Dues

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Adonis on 21 July (WA 367), whether Raven Trading Ltd consulted shipping companies during their investigation, The Impact of Light Dues Increases; and if so, which ones.

Lord Adonis: The consultant who prepared the report for Raven Trading drew upon data from the industry, including terminal operators and service providers. One shipping company that called at the major port of Felixstowe was asked to provide actual costs on a commercial-in-confidence basis, which corroborated estimated figures.
	The report was only one element taken into consideration, alongside representations from a number of shipping companies, in setting light dues levels for 2009-10.

Social Fund

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majesty's Government when they will publish the results of the latest consultation on reforming the Social Fund.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The response to the latest public consultation on the reform of the Social Fund (The Social Fund: a new approach) was published on 23 February 2009, and is available on the Department for Work and Pensions website at: www.dwp.gov.uk/consultations/2008/social-fund-new-approach.shtml
	We will publish a further consultation document on Social Fund reform in due course.

Swine Flu

Lord Taylor of Holbeach: To ask Her Majesty's Government why the name and address of anyone collecting Tamiflu on behalf of a person diagnosed by telephone as suffering from swine flu has been recorded; whether the data will kept; if so, by whom and for how long; who will be allowed to access them; and for what purposes.

Baroness Thornton: The National Pandemic Flu Service asks for the identification of the person collecting the antiviral to be confirmed in case any issues are subsequently raised about the collection of the antiviral.
	The name and address is recorded in case there is a need to contact the person in the future, for example, if a patient reports that they have not received their antiviral, the details of the person who collected it can be checked. The information will not be used for other purposes.
	The data is held in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998 and UK privacy laws.

Victims: Consultation

Baroness Stern: To ask Her Majesty's Government which (a) victim organisations, and (b) relatives of crime victims responded to the consultation Making Sure that Crime Doesn't Pay, published in November 2006.

Lord Bach: We received a total of 24 responses to the consultation, including two from victims organisations (Victims Voice and the Victims of Crime Trust) and one from a relative of a victim of crime. The full list of respondents is included in Annex A of the Governments Response to the Consultation on Making Sure that Crime Doesn't Pay, published in January 2009. The response can be viewed on the Ministry of Justice's website at: http://www.justice. gov.uk/consultations/criminal-memoirs.htm

Afghanistan: Air-dropped Ordnance

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much ordnance was air-dropped by United Kingdom forces in Afghanistan in (a) August 2008, and (b) August 2009.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The below table shows the ordnance air-dropped by United Kingdom aircraft in Afghanistan in August 2008 and August 2009.
	
		
			 Month Number of UK air-dropped ordnance 
			 August 2008 335 
			 August 2009 43

Afghanistan: Rifles

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majestys Government how many incidents of SA80 rifles jamming have been reported to junior officers in Afghanistan this year; and how many SA80 rifles have been withdrawn for maintenance or repair as a result of jamming.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Rifle jamming incidents are not recorded centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.
	No equipment failure reports have been submitted for SA80 rifles in Afghanistan during 2009.

Afghanistan: Sniffer Dogs

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many sniffer dogs are deployed in Afghanistan to detect ordnance; and what impact the climate has had on their effectiveness.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: The Theatre Military Working Dog Support Unit in Afghanistan currently has a number of arms explosive search dogs and vehicle search dogs in theatre. Both are able to detect a wide variety of explosives and ordnance, but for reasons of operational security we do not comment on precise numbers.
	All military working dogs undergo comprehensive training before their deployment and continuation training whilst deployed. In addition, dogs undergo a period of acclimatisation on arrival in theatre, during which time they are extensively tested to ensure that they are fully operationally effective.

Buses

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majestys Government whether they have brought to the attention of the Competition Commission the provisions in the Local Transport Act 2008 concerning partnership operations between bus operators and local authorities.

Lord Adonis: The Office of Fair Trading is currently consulting on its proposal to refer the local bus market to the Competition Commission. If the Commission does undertake a detailed investigation of this sector, the Government will engage fully with the process. The Local Transport Act 2008 provides important policy context for any consideration of the local bus market and we would of course make this clear in any submissions to the Commission.

Buses

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majestys Government what approach they will take towards the proposal for a new European Union regulation on bus and coach passenger rights.

Lord Adonis: Negotiations on a proposed European Regulation on bus and coach passenger rights are ongoing. The Government are trying to ensure that the Regulation balances the needs of both passengers and operators. The Government have recently published on the Department for Transports website a response to our consultation on the proposed Regulation, which sets out the Governments position in more detail. Copies are available in the Libraries of the House.

Cabinet Office

Lord Wallace of Saltaire: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the Cabinet Office issues any guidance to departments when they are being restructured or merged with other departments.

Baroness Royall of Blaisdon: The Cabinet Office works closely with departments which have new responsibilities. There is published guidance which is relevant when machinery of government changes take place. This includes information on staff transfers (the 'Cabinet Office Statement of Practice on Staff Transfers in the Public Sector'), governance (the 'Corporate Governance in Central Government Departments') and accounting rules (which includes guidance on verification of accounting data, asset valuation and tax and duty heads specific to machinery of government changes). Copies of these have been placed in the Libraries of both Houses.
	http://www.civilservice.gov.uk/people/employment/codes.aspx
	http://www.hm-treasury.gov.uk/d/corpgovernancecode280705.pdf
	http://www.financial-reporting.gov.uk/other_practical_examples_and_proformas.htm

Energy: Electricity Imports

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will provide for more cross-channel power cables to be installed to allow for the import of electricity from other European sources.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: We welcome the construction of new electricity interconnectors. Such infrastructure has the potential to increase competition and security of supply within our domestic market.
	While deciding on such investment is primarily a commercial matter, the EUs recently adopted third energy package will help promote the development of greater interconnection. This legislation includes provisions to make it easier to trade electricity between different member states by increasing transparency on the availability of capacity on existing infrastructure and through initiatives to simplify trading arrangements. The package also establishes procedures to co-ordinate the development of transmission systems to help improve the integration of separate electricity networks. Regulatory certainty should also be enhanced by changes to the roles and independence of regulators in member states.
	These developments should help promote investment in new interconnectors.

Energy: Gas Storage

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much natural gas storage there is in the United Kingdom; how many weeks supply that represents; how much natural gas storage they anticipate will be built in 2010; and how many extra days or weeks supply that will represent.

Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: National Grids Transporting Britains Energy (TBE) consultation document, published in June 2009, reports that there is 4.34 billion cubic metres (bcm) of gas storage capacity in GB. A further 0.06 bcm is expected this year. The TBE does not refer to any gas storage facilities commissioning in 2010.
	Existing gas storage capacity in GB is equivalent to approximately 16 days of supply. However, the number of days gas storage capacity is not by itself a meaningful indicator whether demand can be met, as (unlike most other EU member states) we have access to major indigenous supplies, while we also have substantial capacity to import gas from diverse sources.

Financial Services Authority: Takeovers

Viscount Waverley: To ask Her Majestys Government on what grounds the Financial Services Authority would prevent or delay a Kazakh legal entity from taking over a London-listed public company.

Lord Davies of Abersoch: The Takeover Panel is the authority designated to supervise and regulate takeovers in the UK.
	The panels statutory functions are set out in Part 28 of the Companies Act 2006 and include powers to make rules governing the orderly conduct of takeovers in the UK as set out in the City Code on Takeovers and Mergers.
	It would therefore be for the panel to decide on issues of non compliance with the rules in respect of takeovers in the UK. They may to seek to enforce breaches of the code through the courts and the Financial Services Authority.

Freedom of Information

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majestys Government what guidance the Cabinet Offices Propriety and Ethics Team has given to departments on the presumptions to be applied for and against disclosure when responding to a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Baroness Crawley: The presumptions to be applied for and against disclosure when responding to a request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 are available on the Ministry of Justices website: www.justice.gov.uk/guidance/foi-exemptions-public-interest.htm, and in the Library of the House.

Great Scotland Yard

Lord Patten: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for using the vacant buildings in Great Scotland Yard.

Lord Myners: The Crown Estate owns numbers 1 and 3-5 Great Scotland Yard.
	Number 1 Great Scotland Yard is a small 1,600 sq ft office building. The occupier is expected to vacate in the short term. The Crown Estate plans to refurbish the space after this and then re-let for office use.
	Number 3-5 Great Scotland Yard is a 30,000 sq ft former Ministry of Defence book depository. Potential uses for this property are restricted short term both by its structural integrity and its very poor state of repair.

Migrant Workers: Bulgarians and Romanians

Lord Laird: To ask Her Majestys Government how many applications for accession worker cards, registration certificates, sector-based schemes and seasonal agricultural workers schemes have been approved for (a) Bulgarians, and (b) Romanians, including family members, since those countries accessions to the European Union.

Lord West of Spithead: Information relating to the number of accession worker cards issued to Romanian and Bulgarian nationals since their accession to the European Union is published in the Bulgarian and Romanian accession statistics, which are published quarterly and are available in the Libraries of the House.
	Sector-based scheme (SBS) and seasonal agricultural workers scheme (SAWS) details are also on the annex of this document. Registration certificates are not issued to Bulgarian and Romanian nationals.
	Information on the number of family members who have entered in the UK is not available centrally and could only be obtained at disproportionate costs.

Passports

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord West of Spithead on 20 July (WA 2889), what are their proposals for passport personal interview offices.

Lord West of Spithead: In July and August 2009 we are closing offices in Redruth and Omagh. Both of these offices proved unpopular with our customers and did not represent value for money. Alternatives are available within acceptable distances and travelling times.
	We have also highlighted some other offices which are currently experiencing low demand and are in discussions regarding our future approach.

Passports

Lord Roberts of Llandudno: To ask Her Majesty's Government, in light of the number of applications for remote passport interview facilities, what are their intentions regarding those facilities.

Lord West of Spithead: All first-time adult passport applicants are required to undergo a confirmation of identity interview. The existing IPS interview locations cover 99 per cent of first-time adult customers within an approximate 20-mile locality. The Video Interview Service (VIS) completes this service for all UK applicantsthe remaining 1 per centand will conduct an estimated 5,300 interviews per annum.
	The Video Interview Service will continue to be monitored throughout the first full year of operation. Our intentions are to ensure that the best possible solutions are available to our customers and we will continue to monitor uptake, performance and trends relating to customer preference to ensure that this remains the case.

Roads: M5

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will investigate the necessity of closing the northbound carriageway of the M5 for six hours on 28 August in response to a threat from a man to jump from the Avonmouth Bridge.

Lord West of Spithead: The decision to close a motorway is an operational matter for the police. In reaching such a decision they are fully aware of the disruption and inconvenience such a closure might cause. They must however give due priority to ensuring the safety of individuals involved in an incident, of the public at large, of emergency service workers attending an incident and of all other road users.
	I understand that on this occasion the road was closed whilst police officers talked to a vulnerable person on the bridge, who subsequently fell and was killed. Apart from the risk to his own well-being and that of those attempting to help him, his behaviour was distracting motorists from paying due attention to driving safely. I understand that Avon and Somerset Constabulary have informed their Professional Standards Department and the incident has been referred to the Independent Police Complaints Commission.

Transport: Consultation

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Young of Norwood Green on 21 July (WA 336), why the consultation period for the Department for Transport's High Speed 1 charging framework and associated documentation was only three weeks from receipt of the full set of papers; and whether the Cabinet Office will take action to enforce its code of practice on consultations.

Lord Davies of Abersoch: The June 2009 consultations by the Department for Transport on the High Speed 1 charging framework and by HS1 Ltd on the High Speed 1 network statement and related arrangements were the culmination of a series of consultations about the High Speed 1 access and charging arrangements which began in October 2007. That preliminary consultation and those launched in September and October 2008 offered consultees three months to consider the documentation and to respond.
	The decision to reduce to one month the period for responding to the June 2009 consultations was taken in the light of those earlier consultations. It was designed to provide for the early execution of the access contracts being sought by the passenger train operating companies using the railway.
	There are several systems in place to aid compliance with the Code of Practice on Consultation.
	Consultation co-ordinators in departments work with policy officials to help them run consultations that are in line with the code. Officials in the Better Regulation Executive in BIS also work with departments on the development of many policies and are therefore often sighted on draft consultation documents where any potential deviances from the code might be spotted.
	Transparency also plays a significant role in aiding compliance. In accordance with the code (criterion 6.6), consultation documents cite the criteria of the code and give the contact details of the departmental consultation co-ordinator so that he or she can be contacted by anyone who feels that the exercise is not in line with the code. Moreover, departments are required, in the better regulation chapter of their annual reports, to describe their consultation activity over the year and the compliance of their consultation activities with the code.

Visas

Lord Dholakia: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will review Tier four of the Points Based System for visas in order to address the refusal rates for students from China, India and the United States.

Lord West of Spithead: It is vital that we strike the right balance between welcoming genuine international students to the UK and denying entry to bogus applicants who wish to abuse the system.
	The UK Border Agency has been working closely with student representative bodies in China, India and the United States, as well as educational institutions in the UK, to ensure we achieve this.
	We keep implementation of tier four under review and have made operational enhancements in response to feedback.

Work Capability Assessment

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majestys Government when they will evaluate the work capability assessment; and when they will publish their interim findings.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: The Government are committed to producing an independent report on the operation of the work capability assessment every year for the first five years, as established in the Welfare Reform Act 2007. This will begin in the autumn and will publish its first findings in 2010.

Work Capability Assessment

Baroness Thomas of Winchester: To ask Her Majestys Government how they identify and measure mental health ability under the work capability assessment.

Lord McKenzie of Luton: When the work capability assessment was brought in to replace the personal capability assessment in October 2008, the mental health component was redesigned to ensure that it is up-to-date and evidence-based and deals effectively with the problems and needs of those with mental health problems. The new assessment ensures that people with mental health conditions are better identified and that their problems and needs and the support they require are correctly assessed.
	Specifically, the work capability assessment includes a more extensive assessment of mental function, assessing the effects of a range of conditions such as learning disabilities or mental illness. To do this, a claimant is judged against a series of activities which correspond to mental functions which may be necessary to any workplace, such as execution of tasks or coping with change. The extent to which a claimant can complete any of these activities is measured against a series of graded descriptors. The same scoring system is applied to mental function and physical function, to ensure that the assessment is balanced across the two sections.

Afghanistan: Blood Transfusions

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how much blood was required for transfusions by United Kingdom medical staff in Afghanistan during July and August.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of blood used by United Kingdom medical staff in Afghanistan for transfusions during July and August was donated by personnel serving in Afghanistan; what proportion was shipped from the United Kingdom; and what problems, if any, have been encountered with the supply of blood and blood products to Afghanistan.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: Blood transfusion is delivered to patients as three component parts; red cell concentrate, fresh frozen plasma, and platelets. For routine transfusions, deployed UK military hospitals maintain stocks of these blood products sourced from UK National Blood ServiceNBSdonor centres. Blood for transfusion donated by personnel serving in Afghanistan is taken only in extremis through an established in-theatre Emergency Donor PanelEDP.
	Four apheresis platelet units were obtained via the EDP and transfused in July, and none in August. All other transfusions during July and August 2009 were carried out using NBS stocks in the quantities shown below:
	
		
			  July August 
			 Red Cell Concentrate 645 477 
			 Fresh Frozen Plasma 560 364 
			 Platelets 78 56 
		
	
	For red cell concentrate, a unit broadly equates to an imperial pint.
	During this period, there have been no problems with the supply of blood and blood products to Afghanistan that have led to shortages in-theatre. The Joint Support Chain is aware of the precious nature of blood products and accords them due care and diligence in transit.

Afghanistan: Drug Traffickers

Lord Astor of Hever: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they plan to create a kill or capture list of Afghan drug traffickers and task the Armed Forces to pursue them.

Baroness Taylor of Bolton: ISAF has no plans to create a kill or capture list of Afghan drug traffickers. We do, however, provide mentoring and support to Afghan law enforcement units engaged in counter narcotics operations under Afghan law.

Children: UN Convention

Lord King of West Bromwich: To ask Her Majestys Government whether childrens rights impact assessments are regularly conducted in order to evaluate whether the allocation of budgets is proportionate to the realisation of childrens rights under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: The Governments programme to support policies for children and young people is set out in the Childrens Plan and reiterated in the Childrens plan: one year on which was published in December 2008. This is underpinned by the general principles of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the ChildUNCRCand identifies where Government are taking forward the UN committees concluding observations.
	In delivering our Childrens Plan commitments through policy and legislation, impact assessments on new policies are undertaken to consider the impact on costs and benefits, including impact on gender, disability or ethnicity. In addition, the cross-government clearance process for all new policy and legislation allows the Department for Children, Schools and Families to consider the likely impact on children and young people.

Children: UN Convention

Lord King of West Bromwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government what plans they have for systematic training on the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child for the children's workforce and all employees who work for and with children, including law enforcement officials, immigration officials and the media.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: Training related to human rights and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the ChildUNCRCis available for a wide range of professionals working with children. The Children's Workforce Development CouncilCWDChave a remit to ensure that those who work directly with children and young people have the best possible training, qualifications and support, covering about 500,000 workers, including early years and childcare, education welfare and social care for children and young people. The CWDC has adopted the convention in its entirety to underpin its work.
	The UK Border Agency has in place a programme of training for immigration officials. Officials are required to undertake e-learning training module which raises their awareness of child protection and welfare issues and which relates these issues to their work. Immigration, nationality and border control officials who deal with applications involving children receive training which deals in depth with children's safeguarding and welfare. Specialised training is provided for those officials whose work involves activities such as interviewing children, escorting children and immigration law enforcement work with children and families.
	The Government have placed in the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Act 2009 a requirement for the UK Border Agency to make arrangements to have regard to the need to safeguard and promote the welfare of children in carrying out its functions. Where it is necessary, training material and courses are being revised to take account of this new duty which comes into effect later this year.
	The Government support initiatives aimed at raising awareness of the UNCRC, such as the development of a curriculum resource for teachers on the UNCRC to be used with key stage 3 pupils. The Right Respecting School AwardRRSApilot in some schools aims to provide teachers and children with an understanding of children's rights by aligning the principles of the UNCRC closely to everyday life in the classroom and school.

Crime: Guns

Lord King of West Bromwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many crimes involving the use of guns were reported in the last five years in the five largest United Kingdom cities; and what action they are taking to reduce the occurrence of such crimes.

Lord West of Spithead: The Home Office collects firearm offences data on a police force area level in England and Wales. It is not centrally possible to relate directly these data to every specific city. However, firearms offences continue to drop in the top three police force areas in England and Wales, which account for 56 per cent of all non-air weapon firearm offences in England and Wales. Annexes A, B and C provide further detail.

Education: Unauthorised Colleges

Lord King of West Bromwich: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many students from (a) India, (b) Pakistan, and (c) Bangladesh have been affected by the activities of bogus colleges; and what help they have offered those students when the colleges have ceased to operate.

Lord West of Spithead: Information is not available on the number of students who have been affected by the activities of bogus colleges either in general or from the specified countries.
	Following the withdrawal of a sponsor licence the UK Border Agency will immediately curtail the permission to stay in the United Kingdom of any students whom they believe to be complicit in any dishonesty by the former sponsor. Other students will have their leave reduced to 60 days to enable them to find a new sponsor. Those failing to find a sponsor during this time must leave the country and those who fail to do so will have their removal enforced.
	Any student faced with enforced removal is advised that there is help available from the International Organisation for MigrationIOMwhich assists in the voluntary return to the country of origin or residence. Help and advice on returning home is also offered by the Immigration Enquiry Bureau.

Flu

Lord Moonie: To ask Her Majesty's Government how many deaths were recorded in 2008 as a result of flu-like illnesses among (a) children, (b) pensioners, and (c) other adults.

Baroness Thornton: This information is not collected in the format requested.

Health: Botox

Lord Jopling: To ask Her Majesty's Government what proportion of botulinum toxin products imported into the United Kingdom is already prepared for cosmetic use, as opposed to bulk supplies intended to be put to various uses.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the level of production of botulinum toxin products in the United Kingdom.
	To ask Her Majesty's Government what is the level of botulinum toxin in cosmetic preparations such as Botox.

Baroness Thornton: Botulinum toxin products such as Botox and Vistabel are classed as medicines and are regulated under the Medicines Act 1968 and related secondary legislation.
	The cosmetic use of these products is outside their licensed indications. Importation of unlicensed products, without notification to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency, would be illegal.
	The level of production of botulinum toxin in the United Kingdom is unknown.

Olympic Games 2012: Construction Vehicles

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government further to the Written Answer by Lord Davies of Oldham (HL5072), how much freight is transported from the Barking consolidation centre to the Stratford site by (a) road and (b) rail.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The ODAs commitment to the transportation of materials by sustainable means is demonstrated by the ODAs sustainability plan (2007) stating an aspiration that 50 per cent of construction materials by weight will be transported by sustainable means. This is reflected in the planning obligations for the Olympic Park.
	The latest figures show that 58 per cent of construction material has arrived by rail alone. In June 2009 Three Mitts Lock, formally known as Prescott Lock was opened, which allows 350 tonne barges to access the waterways for the transportation of materials.
	The movement of freight by road is recorded at both Barking and M11 logistics centres and rail is recorded on site at the Bow East logistics centre. The number of road vehicles processed through the Barking logistics centre between December 2008 and August 2009 was 20,210. The Barking logistics centre does not process rail freight. During the same period December 08-August 09620,000 tonnes of material has been moved between the Bow East logistics centre and the Olympic Park site by rail.

Olympic Games 2012: Procurement

Lord Berkeley: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether the procurement policy of the Olympic Delivery Authority is required to comply with European Union procurement rules for public sector works; and, if not, why it is exempt.

Lord Davies of Oldham: It is a statutory obligation for the ODA to comply with EU public procurement directives. This obligation is applicable not solely to works contracts, but to contracts for supplies and services.

Railways: First Great Western

Lord Bradshaw: To ask Her Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of how First Great Western's proposed 20 per cent increase in off-peak fares and 25 per cent increase in car parking charges accord with the Government's policy of encouraging greater public use of rail travel.

Lord Adonis: The level of unregulated fares is a commercial matter for individual train operating companies, but in setting levels they will wish to ensure that they are competitively priced to attract business. First Great Western made a number of changes to their off-peak fares structure within the rules of fares regulation in September. Although some unregulated off-peak return fares have increased, off-peak single fares were reduced by around 50 per cent to enable a more flexible structure to be introduced. Following discussions with the Department for Transport and Passenger Focus, First Great Western has applied easements to restrictions on some Super-Off-Peak fares to/from Pewsey and to Cornwall to allow travel earlier than was originally proposed.
	Car parking charges are a commercial matter for the operator.

Schools: Admissions

Lord Bates: To ask Her Majesty's Government what discussions the Department for Children, Schools and Families have had with Northumberland Council concerning the Local Government Ombudsman's report of 18 August on complaint numbers (a) 08008086, (b) 08008180, (c) 08008306, and (d) 08008770 regarding admission appeals.

Baroness Morgan of Drefelin: The Department for Children, Schools and Families had no contact with the Local Government Ombudsman to discuss the four complaints regarding admission appeals.

Smoking

Lord Stoddart of Swindon: To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will review legislation prohibiting the smoking of tobacco in public places with a view to allowing establishments which serve alcoholic drinks and food to provide separate indoor accommodation and facilities for smokers.

Baroness Thornton: The Government gave a commitment to comprehensively review smoke-free legislation in England Health Act 2006 three years after implementation. The review will take place in 2010.

World Class Places

Lord Palmer: To ask Her Majesty's Government what was the cost of producing printed copies of the report World Class Places, published in May by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport and Communities and Local Government, and posted to Members of the House in July.

Lord Davies of Oldham: The design and print costs of 3,150 copies of World Class Places was £12,163, which was inclusive of VAT. It was produced and paid for by Communities and Local Government.